
ALsa 



Book 



GopyiigM}^?- 



COF/PJGHT DSPOSm 




A Complete and Comprehensive Description 



OF THE 



AGRICULTURAL AND STOCK RAISING 



RESOURCES 



OF THE 



TEXAS PANHANDLE COUNTRY, 

statistics in Regard to its Climate, J^tc. 

Compiled from the Latest Reports. 



Presented tuith the Complijnerits of ths 

Passenger ]3epartment, 



FOURTH 




EDITION. 



WOODWARD & TIEHNAN PRINTINS CO. 
ST. LOUIS. 



— T II E 



RESOURCES AND ATTRACTIONS 



The Texas Panhandle 



FOR THE 



Home Seeker, Capitalist and Tourist. 



FACTS ON CLIMATE, SOIL, FARMING, STOCK RAISING, DAIRYING, FRUIT 
GROWING, GAME AND FISH. 



VITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF THE 

PASSENGEK DEPARTMENT, 



FOURTH ilMlm EDITION. 




ST. LOUIS. 
Woodward & TIERNA^f rRiNTiNO Co., 309-319 North Third Street. 

1893. 



A COMPLETE 
AND COMPREHENSIVE 
DESCRIPTION OF THE RESOURCES 
OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE; ALSO STATISTICS IN 
REGARD TO ITS CLIMATE, ETC., COM- 
PILED FROM THE LATEST 
REPORTS OF 1892. 



Omaha, March 1893. 



Copyright, 1893, by E. L. LOMAX, General Passenger and Ticket Agent, 
Union Pacific System, Omaha, Neb. 



^a°\\ 



ur<^ 



CONTENTS. 



General view of The Texas Panhaitole 7-8 

Outline of Surrounding Country 8-10 

Climate 10 

Table Showing the Monthly and Annual Mean Temperature (in 

Degrees Fahr.) at Various Texas Stations 11 

Rivers and Water-Courses 12-13 

Timber Growth - - 13 

The Soil 14 

Remarks Upon The Panh^ 'jt»i^ Country 

Its Capabilities, Prospects, etc 15-33 

Mild in Winter, Cool ii* Summer 17 

High Elevation 17 

Settling with Northern People 18 

Climatic Comparisons 19 

Water Supply, Rainfalls, Average Depth of Water, Springs. . . 21-23 

Sheltering and Wintering of Stock 23-24 

Government Lands 25 

Cheap Homes 26 

Wood and Fuel 27-28 

Fodder 29-30 

Experiments with Tree Growing 31-32 

Resident Testimony 33-36 

Fruit Culture 37 

Stock Raising 37-38 

Daikying 39 

Lands and Land Laws 39 

Prices of Lands 39 

Public Lands 4X 

Unappropriated Public Lands 41 

Homestead Donations 41 

How to Acquire Lands 4^-45 



i CONTENTS. 

Railways. 

Important Relation of the Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth R. R. to 

The Texas Panhandle 46 

Shipment of Live Stock 46 

Amount of Freight Forwarded and Received for Year Ending 

November 1, 1889 47 

Educational Advantages 48-.55 

Free Schools 48 

Appropriations for Schools - 48 

Sam Houston State Normal School 49 

Prairie View State Normal School 49 

Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas — Its Object and 

Present Policy 50 

State University 53 

Blind Asylum 54 

Deaf and Dumb Asylum 55 

Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute for Colored Youth 55 

Asylums, Hospitals, etc. 

Lunatic Asylums ^6 

North Texas Hospital for the Insane 56 

Orphan Asylum 56 

House of Correction and Reformatory 57 

Minerals '. 57 

The Panhandle by Counties 58 85 

Tarrant County, City of Ft. Worth 58-60 

Wise County, City of Decatur 61-62 

Montague County 63 

Clay County 64 

Jack County, City of Wichita Falls 65 

Wichita County 66-68 

Archer County 69 

Baylor County ". 70 

Knox County 72 

Wilbarger County, City of Vernon 73 

Hardeman County? 78 

Greer County 80 

Childress County 81 

Donley County 83 

Wheeler County 84 

Potter County 85 

Hale County , 86 

Crosby County 87 

Oldham County 88 

Unorganized Territory 90 

Wealth and Progress , 90 



CONTENTS. 5 

Useful Information. 

Suffrage 91 

Exemption from Taxation 92 

Exemption from Forced Sale 92 

Standard Weight of Farm Products 92 

Legal Rate of Interest 93 

Location of Colonies 93 

Health and Pleasure 93 

Hunting and Fishing 95 

Wages and Cost of Living 97 

Panhandle Towns g§ 

Through Texas. 

A series of interesting letters, giving a graphic picture of the 
Texas Panhandle 109-126 



The Texas Panhandle. 



Texas is supposed to have derived its name from a small tribe of Indians 
oi the village Tehas, on the Nechee, signifying "friend." In 1680, LaSalle, 
che great French explorer, penetrated this immense southwestern country. 
On the part of the Spanish, Alonzo de Leon made the first attempt to 
settle Texas, and in 1691 a governor and troops were sent here by Spain. 
LaSalle called the country Louisiana, for Louis XIV. The Spaniards 
named it New Philippines, in honor of Philip V. San Antonio, the oldest 
European settlement in Texas, was founded in 1693 ; Goliad and Nacog- 
doches in 1717. The foundation of the Alamo was laid in 1744, and was 
denominated a mission. 

Prior to 1820 Texas was ruled by governors. In 1823, Stephen F. Aus- 
tin arrived with colonists, when the Mexican States of Coahuila and Texas 
constituted one government, with their capital at Saltillo, Complaints of 
failure by these to the Mexican government finally eventuated in the revo- 
lution of 1835. On March 2, 1836, Texas declared itself a free and inde- 
pendent government, adopting a constitution t>n the seventeenth of the 
same month. The first president was David G. Burnet. General Sam Hous- 
ton was made commander-in-chief of the Texan forces, and after terrible 
fights and struggles, the heroic band, only one-third in numbers of their 
enemies, gained the decisive battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. 
Texas's annexation to the United States took place in 1845. The State 
seceded from the Union February 1, 1861. In 1870 it was re-admitted. 

No attempt will be made in the succeeding pages of this pamphlet to 
give a description of the imperial State of Texas as a whole — that mighty 
empire which covers 252,514 square miles of territory. But a few statistics 
may prove interesting— a few figures to show the extent and greatness of 
this majestic domain. There are in the State two hundred organized and 
forty-five unorganized counties-. The population in 1880 was 1,591,740; in 
1890 it is 2,235,523. The cotton crop of 1889 amounted to 1,573,406 bales 
valued at $64,688,795 ; there were 15,1^0,592 head of live stock valued at 
$91,402,184 ; there w^ere 3,056 establishments, which gave a manufactured 
product of $40,321,026. There are 8,387 miles of railways in the State, em- 
ploying 27,644 men ; $2,205,000 were expended for education, and 12,000 
teacher's are employed, and there are 565,672 children in the public schools. 
Texas has $700,000,000 worth of taxable wealth. 

Texas is the largest State in the Union, being six times larger than New 
York, seven times as large as Ohio, and 100,000 square miles larger than all 



8 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

of the eastern and middle States, including Delaware and Maryland. Com- 
pared to the countries of Europe, it has 34,000 square miles more than the 
Austrian Empire, 63,000 more than the German Empire, and nearly 70,000 
square miles more than France. The topography, like many other charac- 
teristics of the State, is but little understood, except in a general way. The 
country lying east of the 96th degree of longitude, and north of the 30th 
parallel of latitude, and known as " East Texas," is characterized by a long 
range of hills running in an irregular line from northeast to southwest, and 
containing large deposits of brown hematite iron ore. It is also marked by 
a heavy growth of timber, consisting principally of forests of pine, oak, and 
hickory. 

The Gulf Coast is thus described by Prof. Loughridge, of the United 
States Census Bureau: "The coast of Texas presents features different 
from those of any other State; for while in many other States the mainland 
coast is greatly cut up into large bays, extending many miles inland, it is 
here bordered by an almost continuous chain of islands and peninsulas (the 
latter having the same trend as the islands). The Gulf border of this chain 
is a very regular line southwest from the mouth of the Sabine River (or 
Lake) to near Corpus Christi, which occupies the highest point on the entire 
coast, and thence turns with a regular curve south and slightly southeast to 
Mexico." 

The territory east of the timber region and north of the Gulf Coast, as 
above outlined, is a vast open plain composed of gently rolling prairies- and 
gradual elevations. It is covered with a luxuriant growth of native grasses, 
and dotted by an occasional mott of timber, and extends to the Red River 
on the north and the mountain ranges of the west and northwest. The 
water-courses and ravines are usually fringed with a growth of hackberry, 
ash, elm, Cottonwood, pecan, walnut, and the various oaks. 

West and northwest lie the hills and mountain ranges of the State, 
which are continuations southward of the mountains of Mexico, New Mex- 
ico, and Colorado. In the extreme northwest, bordering Kansas on the 
south and New Mexico on the west, is the elevated table land formerly 
known as the Llano Estacado or Staked Plains. It is now designated as 

THE PANHANDLE OP TEXAS, 

Destined to be the best agricultural and stock-raising section of the State, 
and it is of this new and splendid region we shall attempt to treat. The 
Llano Estacado is an immense high plain. It is related that " the Fathers," 
in 1734, en route from Santa F6, visiting San Saba, set up "stakes-" with 
buffalo heads so that others might follow the trail, and hence the name 
"Staked Plains." This division embraces 75,000 square miles, or thirty- 
five per cent of the State's entire area. 

f _ 

AN OUTLINE OF THE COUNTRY. 

The country from Denver south to the summit of the Raton Range, a 
distance of 264 miles, is entirely in the State of Colorado, and the lands are 
in character very much alike, being high and rolling, except in the valleys 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 9 

of the Arkansas and its tributaries. The valley of the Arkansas, being low 
and warm, is consequently too dry to produce crops without irrigation, but 
there is plenty of water for all such purposes, which may be utilized. On both 
of the divides — the Arkansas divide, between Denver and Colorado Springs, 
and the northern slope of the Raton Range — the country is suflBciently high 
to have a rainfall which will produce, without fall, good crops of rye, bar- 
ley, oats, and potatoes, and which will average, in the country mentioned, 
as high as any in the United States. 

Both of these divides are natural grass regions. Here the alfalfa 
flourishes; millet and sorghum make excellent fodder crops, and these sec- 
tions have already developed into excellent dairy regions. There are still 
Government lands on both of these divides, to be entered as homesteads by 
actual settlers. From the summit of Raton Range, which is the line 
between Colorado and New Mexico, the road runs through Northeastern 
New Mexico. The soil of this section is a black loam, and those who have 
seen the wheat lands of Oregon and Washington say that it is the only anal- 
ogous soil they have ever seen. Agricultural experiments in this vicinity 
have been somewhat meager, but those that have been made proved success- 
ful beyond anticipation. 

At the Texas State line we enter the Panhandle of Texas and run diag- 
onally in a southeasterly direction entirely through it, leaving the Panhandle 
in Childress county. This extensive region is a vast, undulating prairie, except 
w^iere it is broken by the Canadian River, which funs from west to east 
entirely through it; and it is as rich in soil as Illinois, and more fertile in 
promise than Kansas. Very little farming has been done in the upper Pan- 
handle, but there has been enough to justify the belief that it will be the 
great wheat-producing section of the United States, not surpassed if equaled 
by Oregon, Washington, or Dakota. The average altitude being some four 
thousand feet above the sea, makes it a country of extreme heathfulness. 
Consumption and kindred diseases do not originate here. It is above the 
zone of yellow fever, and malaria is unknown. It is destined to become the 
home of a healthy, hardy race of people, and that which is true of the 
human race applies equally as well to the health of all domestic animals. 
The nights are always cool, and the summers are thus more endurable here 
than in the northern States, while the winters, on the other hand, on 
account of its southern latitude, are mild, and there is no month of the 
winter In which the farmer may not follow his avocation without 
hindrance. 

The average rainfall in this section, as shown by the meteorological 
tables kept at Fort Elliott for the last eight years, has been 27.8 inches 
annually. From the upper Panhandle the precipitation Increases slightly 
as you approach the Gulf, until the average reaches some thirty inches 
annually at Dallas and Fort Worth. As twenty-four inches annual rainfall 
is considered all that is necessary, it will be seen that there is an abundance 
of rain all the way from Raton Range to the Gulf. 

From Childress county to Clay, the country has been improved for a few 
years, and it has been abundantly demonstrated to be a country producing 
large crops of wheat, oats, barley, sorghum, corn, Milo-maize, Egyptian corn, 



10 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

alfalfa, Johnson grass, Bermuda grass, potatoes, sweet potatoes, root crops 
and vegetables generally. 

The altitude of this section is somewhat lower than the Panhandle proper, 
and is therefore slightly warmer; but the climate-is as inviting as the soil is 
rich and fertile. The surface of this portion of the country resembles 
the upper section in its general aspects, but is more undulating. Every 
variety of tree that has been planted, and every variety of fruit, including • 
apples, pears, plums, and grapes, are doing well. The wild grape aiid the 
wild plum flourish everywhere, and bear enormous crops. 

The next and lower section, from Clay county to Fort Worth, has been 
settled long enough to have thoroughly demonstrated its capacity as a grain, 
cotton, and fruit growing region. While the wheat crop in this section may 
not be as heavy as in the two sections above spoken of, the corn crop is large, 
equaling in acre-production that of Missouri and Kansas. The cotton of 
this region is equal in quality to any of the older States, and the average 
crop is larger than nearly all of them. This whole country will shortly be, 
without doubt, one of the finest fruit-growing regions, particularly for the 
culture of the peach and the grape, that there is in the whole United States. 
This country is partially divided into prairie and timber. The famous 
"cross-timbers" or " burr-oak openings " run through it from north to 
south. 

The people going into this portion of Texas are of the most intelligent 
and thrifty people in the United States. They are equal to the average in 
their aspirations and desire for a high state of civilization. Churches and 
school-houses are springing up everywhere, and are keeping pace with the 
rapid development of the country. Texas has the largest school fund of 
any State of the Union. Half of her lands have been set apart and devoted 
to educational and charitable purposes. In finance, Texas is pre-eminently 
in a prosperous condition. She has no public debt, and a large surplus of 
money in the treasury, a special session of the legislature having been 
called to disburse the money in an overflowing treasury. 

CLIMATOLOGY AND HEALTH. 

It will be seen that the elevation of this table land at once precludes the 
possibility of germ diseases. Consumption, fevers, malaria, and the like 
cannot originate at this altitude. Texas has variety in her climate as well 
as other things. A very lai'ge portion of the State is swept by the Gulf 
breezes, which dispense life to vegetation and health to the inhabitants 
wherever they reach. The long summers characteristic of this latitude are 
by them rendered not only endurable but enjoyable. So marked is the 
influence of the Gulf winds on the climate of the State that the average 
temperature along the Gulf coast and for many miles inland is much lower 
during the summer months than it is in the higher latitudes of the north. 
The same influence neutralizes the cold, and makes the winters of the southern 
and southwestern part of the State the mildest and most delightful of any 
State in the Union. Reports of the United States Signal Service show the 
mean temperature at different points as follows: — 



TCHE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



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12 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

The prevailing wind throughout the entire State is the south wind from 
the Gulf. 

The " norther " constitutes an important feature of Texas climate, but one 
by no means fraught with such portentous meaning as people abroad have 
been taught to believeby sensational writers, who thrive on extremes of every 
kind. The Texas norther is nothing more than what is elsewhere called a 
cold north wind. The long, unobstructed sweep across the prairies from the 
plains of the northwest heightens its velocity and increases the suddenness of 
its approach, and* these are about the only features that distinguish it from a 
cold wave from the north in other States. These winds are classed as "wet" 
and " dry " northers, according as they may be accompanied by rain or sleet, 
or come without either. The wet norther is the kind from which damage to 
vegetation and live stock is most feared. The duration of a wet norther is 
usually about 34 hours. Dry northers last from 48 hours to a week. The 
wind usually reaches its greatest velocity within 24 hours, and then gradu- 
ally subsides until the end, when it veers again to the south. The dry 
northers drive away all miasmatic poison, and are considered a very health- 
ful influence. 

Away from the bottom lands along the streams and low places sub- 
ject to periodical overflows, there is absolutely no cause for sickness, and 
there is no reason why the State should not become a health resort as well as 
a refuge for people seeking to escape the rigors of winter in the more north- 
ern latitudes. West and Southwest Texas have long since been recognized 
by some of the leading physicians of the United States as possessing a cli- 
mate the equal if not the superior of any in the world for persons with a 
tendency to or suffering from any pulmonary affections. 

Children born in this Panhandle region are strong and sturdy, and the 
diseases incident to childhood never assume a malignant form. Endemic and 
epidemic diseases are almost unknown. There are no low, swampy lands 
here, malaria cannot exist, and fever and ague have no foothold. Consump- 
tion, that "dread disease which medicine never cured, riches never warded 
off, nor poverty could boast exemption fi'om," which is the scourge and 
terror of New England and all other moist climates, is here either cured or 
so modified as to prolong life for many years. The dryness, purity, and 
antiseptic properties of the air have a tendency to counteract and reduce 
the excessive mucous collections, while its rarefaction makes necessary 
more frequent and deeper respirations, thus causing a wholesome expansion 
of the lungs. The bright, warm days are conducive to a cheerful and hope- 
ful feeling, which is a great aid in overcoming the disease, while the cool 
nights are productive of sound, invigorating sleep. These influences are 
no less effective in rheumatism, asthma, bronchitis, liver-complaint, dyspep- 
sia, and many other diseases. 

RIVERS AND WATER-COURSES. 

The Canadian River flows through the Panhandle country, as well as the 
Palo Duro, a fork of the Red River, the latter forming the boundary line 
between Texas and the Indian Territory and Arkansas. It has its source 
in the Panhandle country, and flows eastward through Arkansas and 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, , 13 

Louisiana, emptying into the Mississippi, and draining about 29,000 square 
miles in Texas. The Big and Little Wichita are its principal Texas tribu- 
taries, and both are Panhandle streams. Trinity River has its source in 
Archer and Denton counties, the two forks converging in Dallas county. 

The streams of Northern Texas are pure clear water suitable for domestic 
purposes, and they usually abound in fine fish. Occasionally a deceptive 
stream is met with. The water is inviting to the eye, but it has become 
strongly impregnated with minerals, and is brackish to the taste and unfit 
for use. In any part of these Staked Plains water may be found of fine 
quality and in any quantity from 10 to 30 feet below the surface. This pure 
limestone water can be reached with unfailing certainty in the Panhandle 
country. [The reader will find a more particular detail of streams under 
the description of counties.] ^ 

TIMBER GROWTH. 

The area of timber in Texas is much greater than is generally supposed 
by persons not familiar with the country. By many people outside of the 
State it is regarded as a vast " treeless " plain; but this, like many other opin- 
ions of the State formed at a distance, is wide of the mark. In the prairie 
region the bottoms along the streams and ravines are skirted with timber, 
and in most places there is that kappy admixture of praiiie and timber land 
that so delights the heart of the farmer. Besides this, Eastern and South- 
eastern Texas is covered with a dense forest of fine timber, embracing nearly 
every variety grown in the South. 

The "Cross Timbers" is the name given to two irregular belts of timber 
varying in width and entering the State on the Red River on the north and 
running in a southerly direction across the prairie region. 

The "Lower Cross Timbers" run from a point on Red River north of 
Gainesville, in Cooke county, south to the Brazos River, in McLennan 
county, a distance of about 135 miles, and has an average width of from 10 
to 15 miles, interspersed at irregular intervals with small prairies. 

The "Upper Cross Timbers" leave Red River at a point farther west, 
passing south through Montague county, at the lower, edge of which it 
divides, the eastern portion passing south through Wise and Parker counties 
to the Brazos River, the western veering farther west and extending south 
into Erath county. 

The timber growth of the Cross Timbers is principally post and black- 
jack oaks. On the streams and lowlands ash, hackberry, pecan, and cotton- 
wood trees are found. 

On the gray sand hills in Eastern Texas the timber growth is mainly 
scrubby post and blackjack oaks. On the black sandy land the timber is 
generally of the same kind but of more perfect growth. The red lands are 
covered with hickory, red and post oaks, with a few sweet and black gum 
and elm trees interspersed. 

Short-leaved pine, Interspersed with hickory and the various oaks, is 
found from Bowie county on the Red River south along the eastern edge of 
the State, finally merging into the long-leaved pine region. The area of 



14 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

the pineries, both long and short-leaved, is estimated at 25,000,000 acres, 
capable of producing 64,587,430,000 feet of merchantable lumber. Along 
the streams, especially the larger ones, walnut and ash timber is abundant. 
In the southern part of the State near the Gulf, and west bordering on the 
plains, the live oak is a prominent growth. It is found singly or in clumps 
on the prairies and in the edges of the bottoms. 

The mesquite is a tree found more generally in the Panhandle than any 
other. It is a common growth on the prairies. A prairie with a growth of 
mesquite six or eight years old resembles a peach orchard very much in 
appearance. The mesquite is a small scrubby tree, and produces a bean 
similar in size and appearance to the common corn-field bean. It is very 
nutritious and highly prized as a food for horses aoid cattle. It has 
spread rapidly over the pi-airies within the last few years, and now 
furnishes fire-wood in many localities where a few years ago there was not 
a stick of any kind of fuel to be found. Cedar of stunted growth also forms 
a large part of the timber north and west of the Colorado River, and is 
usually found on the sides and apexes of the hills and mountains. 

The pecan tree, which produces the delicious pecan nut, is found on 
nearly all the streams, but more abundantly in Southern and Western Texas, 
where there are numerous pecan groves in the valleys and on the uplands. 
Gathering and marketing the pecan crop forms no inconsiderable adjunct 
to the industries of that sefetion. The pecan crop of 1887 was estimated at 
9,000,000 pounds, valued at $540,000. 

West of the 100th meridian the timber growth is very limited, being al- 
most exclusively confined to the ravines and water-ways until the outlying 
ridges of the Eocky Mountains are reached. 

THE SOIL. 

Texas justly lays claim to a greater variety and richness of soil than 
almost any other State in the Union. The black waxy, black sandy, black 
pebbly, hog wallow, gray sandy, red sandy, sandy loam, and alluvial soils, 
are each to be found in the State, the majority of them in greater or less 
quantities in each Action. About the best svidence of the richness and fer- 
tility of these various soils that can be offered, is the fact that commercial 
fertilizers, now so common in the older States, and constituting as much a 
fixed charge on the agricultural interests of those sections as the seed 
necessary to plant the ground, are not used at all in Texas. Another fact 
worthy of mention in this connection is that there are thousands of acres in 
cultivation in this State that have been cultivated continuously for more 
than thirty years which now yield as much per acre as they did when first 
planted. The principal soils of Texas are the black waxy, black sandy, and 
alluvial lands of the river bottoms. 

The soil of the Panhandle country possesses probably more lasting qual- 
ities than that of any other section af the State. It is a chocolate-colored 
loam, underlaid with sulphate of lime (gypsum) and the common grade of 
limestone. This loam, resting upon such a basis for the renewal of its 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 15 

nutritive qualities, is practically indestructible — it will not wear owt for 
centuries to come. 

^ PANHANDLE AGRICULTURE. 

The future greatness of the Panhandle region as a wheat-producing dis- 
trict is well assured by the record of production for the past few years. 
The crop returns have been simply wonderful. In the detail of counties, 
which will be found elsewhere, statistics of the yield are presented, show- 
ing the peculiar adaptability of this altitude to raising heavy crops of 
wheat. We will for a time deal with some personal phases of ^farming here, 
showing the reader what has been done in this section, and present a series 
of reports from farmers now engaged in raising' crops. One of Iowa's 
shrewdest observers, the Hon. James Wilson, himself a practical farmer of 
thirty years' experience in the " Hawkeye" State, recently made a thorouglf 
examination of the entire Panhandle country. The result of his observa- 
tions are given carefully, thoughtfully, impartially. His report contains 
so much common sense and such strongly conservative ^timates that it is 
given herewith nearly entire. Mr. Wilson says: — 

"Thirty-three years of work in Iowa suggested a play-spell, — not exactly 
sick, nor ailing altogether, but tired a little. Can't go on incessantly, as of 
yore; and while our State /sposes under her white coverlet, I thought it 
well to run down below the snow Une and look at things. I may tell Iowa 
folks of agriculture and its advantages and drawbacks in sunnier States 
without danger of provoking jealousy. Iowa is secure in the intelligence of 
her people. With their religion, their morality, their thrift, and the excel- 
lence of their soil, they are happy in the advanced position she occupies 
among States in all respects; but one may speak of what he sees in other 
lands with an assurance of complacency among the Hawkeyes. I will look 
out of a farmer's eyes, and tell what I see pertaining to the different 
departments of the farm. It may be well for us to know of the leverages 
other people move things with, and the disabilities they work under. I 
started south, resolved to get out of snow if I had to go as far as the Gulf 
of Mexico. 

"I MIGHT HAVE GONE TO FLORIDA OR CALIFORNIA, 

And might have loaded up with oranges and apricots, but my taste is not 
that way. Besides, when a man goes fishing, he does not want a dozen land 
agents bothering and meddling with his bait, and deafening him about tak- 
ing an option on thousand-dollar-an-acre land, on which to raise pomegran- 
ates or lie in wait till a greener tenderfoot happens along to take a further 
option at fifteen hundred dollars an acre, twelve per cent interest, secured 
by bill of sale or otherwise. That's all well enough for people ^ho feel that 
way. 

" Furthermore, I could see little that I have not heard of or read about. 
Down here it is different. Iowa competes with this locality in meats, 
grains, horses, and other things. Between Kansas on the north, the Mis- 
sissippi River on the east, the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and the Rocky 



16 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

Mountains on the west, is an empire — if I may use the terra — that I know 
little of, but which looks like our prairies, and which is doing the bulk oi 
the railroad building of the nation at present, preparing to enter the domain 
of interstate and international commerce entirely indepen^nt of the com- 
mercial systems to which we in Iowa are tributary, Questions that agitate 
northern people relative to hauling freight over the Alleghanies this local- 
ity' will not be interested in. The gulf and the sea will stand to it in the 
same relations that Chicago stands to Iowa. Distributing points will be at 
tide-water where competition may operate. 
' I came to"find a genial climate, 

"SIXTY DEGREES IN THE SHADE IN JANUARY, 

And have reached it. Overcoats and overshoes, double mittens, and wrap- 
jJers for the throat, are of no use here. A winter resort in idleness is not 
best. There is much to learn in new agricultural countries, and vigor is as 
likely to come in pursuit of facts 'as otherwise. A territory lies to the 
northwest of Fortf Worth, known as the Panhandle, of which so many 
wonderful things are said that one is curious to verify them. Twenty-eight 
counties, thirty miles square, south of latitude 37, and west of the Indian 
Territory, a land of deep soil held at from $2 to $3 an acre, rising gradually 
to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. Railroads are heading for it. The 
Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Division of the great Union Pacific System 
is completed through it, and others are surveying routes to this last great 
scope of cheap land. I will look into it. 

"THE PANHANDLE COUNTRY. 

"There is a sentiment that possesses one in seeing for the first time a 
part of our country never visited before: it is part of the United States, — of 
our country, — of my country. Every soul one meets may be a stranger, but 
they speak our common language. Much is common to us all. The fliag 
floats on some building, the names on the cars connect the extremes of our 
land, — Atlantic, Pacific, Chicago, Kansas City, Des Moines, Denver, Fort 
Worth. There's the telegraph, speak with home. There's the postofSce, U. S. 
A., write home. If you want the best hotel, ask the commercial traveler — he 
knows, and he is everywhere. Every part of our domain is fast assuming 
position in the great whole — one country, one people, one destiny. The 
man who neither reads nor travels has not taken full possession of his 
birthright. The man who reads but does not travel, can only speculate con- 
cerning the grandeur of his possessions in joint sovereignty. The American 
who travels abroad before he is familiar with his own country, must be 
about as interesting to foreigners as a child that gets lost and cannot tell 
where it strayed from. There is little to be seen abroad that is not excelled 
at home, except Lowell's ' old castles,' monuments of ruthless times. Every 
year our great missionary, the railroad, is adding to commercial America 
empires of great interest, particularly in the Southwest, that waited till the 
upper parallels of latitude were laid with steel and graced with civilization. 
Now its turn has come. It got much of the 12,000 miles of new road last 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 17 

year, and will get more next year. An interesting country, now accessible, 
Is ihe Panhandle of Texas. From what I hear, it is just the place for a 
farmer to resort in winter. It takes a clever man to absorb half of our 
development. 

"MILD IN WINTER, COOL IN SUMMER. 

," The unique features of the Panhandle country that make it inviting to 
northern men are its low latitude, which secures mild weather in winter, 
and its high altitude, which assures cool weather in summer. Where the 
Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Division of the Union Pacific System — known 
as the Panhandle Route — enters it near its northwest corner, it is 4,700 feet 
above the level of the sea. The country descends gradually to Fort Worth, 
elevated only 614 feet, a distance of 450 miles south. 

"The south line of the section of country known as the Panhandle is not 
arbitrarily located; but if we take the southwest corner of the Indian Terri- 
tory as the southwesfboundary, — and there is no good reason for it, as the 
land is very much the same for a long distance south, — we find the southern 
elevation is from 1,800 to 2,000 feet above tide-water. Spirit Lake, Iowa, is 
the highest point in our State — some 1,700 feet — and that is several hundred 
fegt lower than the southernmost part of this winter resort of mine. If I 
remember correctly, Des Moines is less than 1,000 feet elevation, as is most 
of the State of Iowa. The Mississippi River at Davenport and the Missouri 
at Council Bluffs are little if any more elevated than Fort Worth, while 
Fort Worth is in latitude 33° and Des Moines is in latitude 43°. 

"THE HIGH ELEVATION. 

"The center of the Panhandle has over 2,000 feet higher elevation than 
the center of Iowa. This is what makes this region entirely different from 
the old Texas We have been reading about. It is entirely above the range 
of the fever region of the coast. There is nothing to produce malaria in 
man or beast. Cattle driven or shipped north from it do not give the 
splenetic fever to others. So well is this understood, that Colorado and 
JJew Mexico do not quarantine against it, but to the south of it draw the 
line from below which cattle must not be taken. 

"A COUNTRY OF GRASS AND BEEF. 

"Here the cheap beef is raised that afflicts northern growers under con- 
ditions of which I am ignorant. Here grain-raising is only pursued in an 
indifferent manner, and yet the aggregates look ominous. I thought I would 
look into things a little, and take notes, and see whether we up north can 
safely rest secure in the advantages we have, of more thrift, if we are 
more thrifty; of better culture, if we cultivate better; and see how far we 
are ahead of the different departments of the farm, if we are ahead. 



18 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE 

"ANOTHER IOWA IN THE SOUTH. 

" This new country is as little settled as Western Iowa was thirty years 
ago. A strip twenty-four miles wide separates it from Kansas, known as 
♦No Man's Land,' because it happened to be left out of all territorial or 
State jurisdiction. The face of the country is as fair as Grundy county, 
Iowa. What its agricultural possibilities are, I intend to investigate and 
inquire into. If it has plenty of water, will grow grains and fodders, trees 
and shrubs, there are natural advantages here that can only be competed 
with by northern farmers with the most approved methods of agriculture. 
Very little straight farming Is being done yet. The ranchman and long- 
horned steer have possession, together with the pioneer who follows the 
hunter, and the farmer who is just coming. Railroads have preceded the 
grain-grower instead of following him. Society consists of the villager and 
the cow-boy, with here and there a farmer who is making experiments. 
People talk about the town and the ranch. The papers speak of cattle, 
stock, ranches, and cows. Singularly, you hear nobody talk politics, nor do 
the papers discuss them. 

"SETTLING WITH NORTHERN PEOPLE. 

" Four-flfths of the. people in Fort Worth and north of it are northern 
men. All the States are sending people here. The cotton-growers from 
Georgia and other Gulf States are seeking the Panhandle to grow grain, 
with a hope of attaining some day to the ownership of good cattle and 
horses. 

"There are problems to be settled with regard to rainfall and the time of 
it, heat and cold, times of sowing and reaping, grains suitable and other- 
wise, that wait for intelligent minds to think out. The long-horned steer, 
with from ten to twenty acres of land devoted to him. makes in three to 
five years what a prime Iowa yearling will. Land stays below two dollars 
an acre holding up such steers. The active American is challenging the 
right of the long-horned steer to such a soil and climate as the Panhandle, 
with such returns. The northern farmer who builds sheds and barns, and 
grows fodder and grain, and imports the best the Old World has to improve 
with, is looking over the situation. The poor steer, as he travels long dis- 
tances to natural springs and back again to his mesquite grass, looks with 
suspicion at tanks being dug and wind-mills going up, and teams plowing; 
but his day is waning. 

"One thing I have settled now; that is, the existence, for certain, of the 
famed Panhandle appetite. Ham, beef, or pork, sir ? — Both, please. Which 
way will you have your potatoes? — By the pock. Tea or coflfee? — Coffee 
first. Apple pie, peach pie, mince pie, sir ? — Some of all kinds, please. 
Home oranges or apples, sir ? — Both. How will you have your oysters, did 
you say?— The raw first, then the fried, afterward the stewed. Keep 
bringing till you reach the tooth-picks. 

" Of my investigations into the practical things of water-supply, rainfall, 
and grain-growing possibilities, I will report in the several letters I shall 
write hereafter This country is a revelation to me, and I must tell the 



*mE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 19 

people of Iowa about H in detail. Those who are looking for homes in a 
wanner climate, affording cheap lands, shoald investigate this region." 

CLIMATIC COMPARISONS. 

"The movement westward of population since 1860 has been principally 
north of the fortieth parallel. Railroad building, the building of towns, 
and the development of the Mississippi Valley has been principally in the 
Northwest, which has a climate varying little from that of the Eastern and 
Middle States. European Immigration has been mostly diverted w^estward 
on the upper parallels, and with congenial experience, as it came generally 
from the latitudes of Europe having similar customs. The conditions of 
human and animal life in latitudes where snow lies In winter have become 
second nature to people of the Northwestern States. Expensive provisions 
for winter for man and beast, strong food, abundant fuel and warm clothing 
for the former, and warm barns, grains and fodders for the latter, are con- 
sidered matters of course. The profits of labor in summer by families are 
largely consumea in winter in keeping out the cold; and the best senti- 
ments of our nature find free course in helping to feed, clothe, and warm 
our unfortunate fellows. The farmer has nice calculations to make in our 
upper latitudes regarding what it will pay to winter over. Some farmers 
feed half of the year; the most provident do not escape feeding a third of 
the year, when winters are unusually mild. 

" The opening up of the Southwest Is bringing Into convenient reac& 
sections where farming will be conducted under 

"MUCH MORE FAVORABLE CONDITIONS, 

Both as regards providing for the family and as regards the carrying over 
of stock. The Panhandle of Texas Is one of those localities that is now 
open to settlers. Farming operations are carried on there, or can be, simi- 
lar to much of Europe. Plowing goes on nearly all winter, as in most of 
Europe. Land is prepared for crops at much less expense, and it can be 
done in better shape than in the upper latitudes, where the soil freezes in 
early November, and stays frozen till April. 

" Everything must be done up north in a hurry. Man and beast on the 
farm must strain to the utmost to get in crops in season, care for them in 
season while growing, and harvest them in season, — all in the short summer 
months. Really we have but two seasons, summer and winter. 

"COLD AND WARM CLIMATES. 

" It is claimed, of course, that the man who lives in the cold climate of 
the North is the man for vigor, and the man who lives in climates having 
mild winters, loses force. Let us inquire into this. England, Scotland, 
Ireland, and much of Germany have winters so mild that farming opera- 
tions, such as gathering roots, sowing grains, plowing and harrowing, are 
carried on during the winter months. The people of these countries have 
as much vigor as is found among people of colder latitudes. We cannot 



20 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

reason that northern men will lose their force should they go far enough 
south to find mild winters, provided they do not encounter too hot sum- 
mers. Location according to latitude does not altogether determine 
the climatic conditions of the country. The British Isles lie between 
50 and 60 degrees of north latitude, more than 10 degrees higher than Iowa; 
but the ocean currents keep these islands warm. 

"THE PANHANDLE COUNTRY 

Is below 37 degrees, and is cool in summer because of its high altitude.- 
This no doubt applies to many other localities being opened up by rail- 
roads, but I can only speak of what I have seen. Industrial operations are 
practicable in the locality f. speak of, that are not possible farther north. 
Nor is it a mere corner that is presented to civilization by the Denver, 
Texas & Fort Worth Division of the Union Pacific System, where 
a few lucky farmers can till with light expense and plant crops at both ends 
of the year. It is a scope of country nearly as large as Iowa, within the 
State of Texas, much of the Indian Territory and New Mexico that I saw 
personally, and how much more I do not know. Northern men admit slowly 
the force of such happy combinations for farming operations even when 
they see them, and inquire for compensating drawbacks, the conditions 
are so different from those that circumscribe the northern farmer. The 
best results in stock-growing, in grain-raising, in dairying, in root culture, 
and in grazing have been found in countries that have open winters and 
mild summers. Good results in six months of frozen ground and four 
months of snow come in defiance of the conditions, and through unceasing 
energy. We must estimate the coming force of the competition of those 
southwestern States that 

"PLOW IN JANUARY AND SOW IN FEBRUARY, 

And harvest in May and June, that can grow fodders after August, 
where cattle would not prefer sheds one day in ten if they had them. I 
noticed a striking illustration of the ease with which stocJk is well 
wintered near the north line of Texas. The method is suggestive to us. 
A lot of late September calves had an open shed. They were fed cane 
fodder — our northern sorghum grown so thickly that the stalks were as 
fine as pipe stems. The little fellows were in as good condition as our 
calves that get some grain and all the good hay they want every day. They 
grazed on the mesquite grass also. That is making cheap beef. The mild 
weather made the fodder and grass ample. A large per cent of the feed 
was not required to shingle the calves against extreme cold. 

" DAIRYING 

Is not carried on extensively here at this time. A cow-boy will rope 
a cow, another will milk hei* — for coffee. But dairying can be conducted 
under the conditions that produce the finest goods in the favored districts 
of Europe. The dairy cow to be successful must be kept warm. She does 
her best with roots and vegetables, that require mild winters to enable the 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 21 

operator to handle them with profit. The ranchmen will never turn dairy- 
men; but as competition in production demands economy, industries will 
gradually discover where they are most at home. Winter resorts here and 
yonder will be discovered where invalids can breathe easier, and live 
longer, where town lots and orchards bound the horizon. I am writing of 
the coming competition of the 

' LOWER LATITUDES WITH THE UPPER, 

Where sunshine excuses the snow-dri/t; where the European-born farmer 
will find constitutions similar to those he was born amidst; [where coming 
millions below the thirty-seventh parallel in winter sunshine will produce 
for the same market the farm crops that are now manipulated in the colder 
latitudes of the north; where fuel is as abundaiit and convenient, but not 
half so much needed, as in the northern States; where winter rains and suns 
carry on the crops toward maturity before the hottest months of summer 
come to injure the growth farther north. A certain per cent of our poeple 
ean go to tropical latitudes to grow fruits. The millions will grow staple 
farm products. The first inquiry ever present is concerning something to 
eat. The farm is the natural place for the family, and Iowa people who will 
go south for a warmer climate can get homes in the Panhandle, where con- 
ditions for growing what it pays the farmer to raise are favorable." 

THE WATER SUPPLY 

"The question of 'how to get water' has become a leading one in all 
prairie countries in consequence of the drouth of the last two years. It has 
become evident that shallow wells will not furnish water in all seasons, and 
that the lower water levels must be reached so that the stock that find 
pasturage on a given amount of land may get water without the loss of flesh 
that follows long drives. No outlay of the farm has disappointed so much 
as that put in wells that have not been permanent. We have not knowledge 
that has become general concerning what is beneath us; consequently we 
have dug, tored, and piped, and tubod for water, each after his own ideas 
based on guesswork. There are few farmers who have not lost hundreds 
of dollars in sinking for water that are a dead loss. Exact information will 
come from experiments and publication of them. 

" The Panhandle country is similar to Icwa as far as water is concerned. 
While cattle in an open country have access to running water, they can only 
go three or four miles to drink, and thrive. I inquired into the water prob- 
lem of many men. but got little information to the point until I met Mr. 
George Findley, the agent of the Capital Cattle Company, an organization 
that owns 3,000,000 acres and 120,000 cattle, and has observed the necessity 
of putting water within the easy reach of all their animals Their ranch 
extends 200 miles north and south along the borders of New Mexico, and 
incloses part of what is seen on the map as the ' Staked Plains.' The Com- 
pany have bored and dug and made dams. They stop at 300 feet in boring, 
and have only failed in three instances in getting water at that depth while 



s!j the texa^ panhandle 

establishing'Tbighty wells The average depth of these wells is 132 feet, 
and 

• THE AVERAGE DEPTH OF WATER IS 35 FEET- 

" All of these wells supply 500 cattle each in the driest times, and many 
' of them supply 1,000 head, which is considered as many as can find grass 
' conveniently. Two of those wells on the Staked Plains flow without arti- 
ficial power to raise the water; the water is raised by wind-mills in tho 
'Others, Tanks of 15,000 gallons capacity hold water to serve over calms, 
^and cisterns of from 50,000 to 100,000 gallons are being constructed. They 
i have 20 dug wells not deeper than 30 feet, that have sufficient water to sup'^ 
ply the minimum of 500 cattle. They erect dams across the bottom of small 
^amphitheaters to hold rain and spring water, a plan that is common in 
iSouthern Iowa. It is done simply by plowing and scraping up an embank- 
inent with three feet slope to one of rise on the inside, and two to one on 
the outside. After a season or two it becomes entirely water tight. Where 
sand or gravel is present, a trench is firs+ dug and filled with surface soil 
tramped tight. Many of these wells are in what has been known as the ' no- 
watei country' on the Staked Plains. Its grasses were not valuable until 
the welk were made, as stock could not graze in summer and go to the large 
streams to drink; but now it is as valuable as any similar soil in the Pan- 
handle. The water in all but five of those wells is good for man's use, and 
the five furnish water that agrees well with stock, while it is brackish to 
the human taste. I can see a remedy in all this for droughts. This country 
has an average of 253>^ Inches of rainfall. Some crops would need irriga- 
ting in extreme seasons. The dam and cistern and wind-mill would and 
will help over the extremity, as water would only be needed to eke out the 
natural rainfall in dry seasons. To what extent it is practical to irrigate 
crops by pumping, I do not yet kSow. 

"RAINFALL. 

" The rainfall in the Panhandle, as reported by the United States Signal 

Station in Wheeler county. Fort Elliott, from 1880 to .1887, inclusive, is as 

follows: In 1880, 16.79 inches; 1881, 16.16; 1882, 24.76; 1883, 28:31; 1884, 

-33.91; 1885, 37.05; 1«86, 21.65; and in 1887, 26.14,— an average of 25.58 inches. 

" THE AVERAGE RAINFALL 

"^Of this country is sufficient to mature crops on most of its soils, provided it 
comes at the right time. No country that depends on clouds for moisture 
is positively certain of this. In northern latitudes there is but one series of 
months in which to grow crops — from frost to frost; here there are two 
seasons. The questions to be determined in future will be the time of plant- 
ing, so as to take advantage of heat and moisture. Experiments are being 
made now by a few careful men, and success has been reached at both ends 
of the year, with different crops. People here have not yet learned that 
thorough culture takes the place of rainfall, or rather prepares the soil to 
*^extract moisture, as corn-growers in the north have discovered. First-class 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE 23 

farmers more and more defy the weather. The Panhandle has but few 
farmers of any kind, but some of the few are good ones One is struck with 
the small comparative expense necessary to winter stock here. There was 
a ' norther ' here in January, when the thermometer fell to zero and below 
in some places for a day or two; at the same time it was 30° below in Iowa. 

■'SPRINGS. 

"The 'plains 'are the high table-lands covered generally with a deep 
chocolate-colored soil. The sources of the Red and Arkansas rivers are in 
the plains. Wherever the headwaters of those rivers have made valleys, 
springs come out, and until the advent of the spade and auger, stock found 
water at the rivers and creeks and springs that flowed from the great reser- 
voirs in the plains. There is plenty of water in the Panhandle. It does 
not come to the surface every few miles. The divides must be dug or bored 
for water before small farms can exist, but such is the condition since the 
drouths of 1886-7, all the way from Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico. The 
divides between the streams are dry on and near th6 surface in the State 
where the drouth operated. Iowa towns are at present boring artesian 
wells of great depth. Only the ranchmen in the Panhandle can afford the 
expense. 

" I have traveled already several hundred miles over this region and 
find that water can be frequently found in springs, or in shallow dug wells, 
and nearly always in bored wells of 100 feet. The water on some of the 
great divides, found in depressions that have no outlet — similar to the 
Wright county ponds, only on a much larger scale — is brackish, and they 
are called alkali lakes. Stock do well on it, and the people evidently do 
not suffer from the spring water and dug wells, as they seem rugged and 
healthy. 

"STOCK WITHOUT SHELTER 

Suffered here, but there was no need of it. A section is fenced with wire. 
There may be a ' break ' or ravine, and there may be none. Since I came 
here there has been no need of any protection. Stock graze on the natural 
grasses. If too many are in the pasture, they get poor. If not, they are as 
sleek as our Iowa cattle that get hay or shock fodder. If they only live till 
spring the operation is considered a success. They could be fattened, as 
many kinds of forage will grow well; but that has not been thought of. 
The grass in summer will fatten them if too many are not put on it, and 
there is not much difference between the long-horned range cattle and the 
unimproved Iowa cattle. Nor is there much difference in the prices for 
which they sell If the herd masters here should take it into their heads to 
provide shelter against the northers and rainy days, grow cane, and corn, 
and millet, to fatten with, and buy improved bulls to grade up with, the 
grower of the unimproved cattle in northern States would be surely driven 
to the wall. There is nothing to hinder the Panhandle people from grading 
up their horses, also 



24 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

"IT SELDOM SNOWS, 

And horses can graze the year round. I have heard of stock farms that 
have imported draught horses, but the people have not used them anywhere 
I have traveled. The northern settler will, however, have improved horses, 
and I cannot imagine more favorable conditions of soil and climate to breed 
them The wild horse is here yet that has bred and reproduced him- 
self for centuries ' Better care and better food are all that is required to 
make him larger, Usage would malie him more gentle, but there is no 
necessity of beginning with him. 

'All the Panhandle country is from two to three hundred miles nearer 
.the tide-water than Chicago is Practically the same freight rates obtain 
from New Orleans and Galveston as from New York and other eastern ports 
to European markets. The Gulf ports will reach New York on as favorable 
terms as the middle States The activity of Chicago reaches here for busi- 
ness. Lower cost of transportation from the Gulf coast will surely invite 
freight and capital and enterprise to handle it. The deepening of the 
passes at New Orleans made that city the second exporting point for grains 
in the nation, because grains could be moved more cheaply that way. Just 
as soon as the people of this part of the country insist loudly enough upon 
having a harbor on the coast that will admit the ocean-going steamer, they 
will get it. At present they are contending over points of location. 

" WINTERING STOCK. 

"The Iowa farmer's heaviest disability in raising stock is between grass ^ 
and grass — in the winter time. Where grass is eaten as fast as it grows, 
fodders must be furnished half the year Where fields are preserved dur- 
ing the summer so that stock can graze till sno\f falls and after it melts, 
the foddering season is shortened three and a half or four months in 
ordinary winters. Ev«n this is no small expense in stock-raising. A 
majority of stbck in Iowa grow none in winter. They weigh no more in 
spring than in the fall In considering the probable competition with us 
In stock-raising of the locality I have been describing; I observe that no 
fodders are fed, except in rare instances; but that does not argue that a 
better class of farmers will not manage differently. Cattle in the Panhan- 
dle evidently make no gain in winter; nay. more, they evidently lose much 
that they gain in summer. The best grass Iowa has for winter grazing is 
the Kentucky blue grass. I cannot hear of its having been tried in Texas 
anywhere. • It is very evident, however, that the native grasses would, if 
preserved, answer the same purpose in the Panhandle that the blue grass 
serves in Iowa The ranches are never over-stocked, at least, most of them. 
Where the buffalo grass has not been eaten, that furnishes fair grazing, 
not enough to fatten stock but to give them a fodder equivalent. I doubt 
if an acre of buffalo grass, preserved from pasturage, on the best lands, 
would equal an acre of blue grass; but stock can always get at it, and 
this is a great leverage they have in wintering stock down here, or rather, 
up here. Snow very rarely lies more than a day or two If we had the 
same conditions in Iowa, we could winter much cheaper. Some ranchmen 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 25 

from the north are trying to finish their cattle with cane, and big stories 
are told. A Mr. Louiax, an Iowa man, fed a 680-pound half short-horn 
yearling on his ranch twenty pounds of cut sugar-cane a day for thirty days, 
and had a gain of fifty pounds. They are beginning to feed cotton-seed 
cake, which costs about the same as our flax-seed cake; the results are about 
the same with the latter as with the former. The British people buy the 
bulk of both kinds of cake made in the United States, so it will not much 
disturb beef values if the Southerner feeds his at home to the native steers. 
I am only speaking of possibilities, however. I know how slowly farmers 
get out of old ruts. What could be done here with mild winters, breezy 
summers, rich soil, and cheap lands, is quite a different thing f x'om what is 
likely to be done immediately." 

GOVERNMENT LANDS. 

•'The cheap, good lands of the United States that can be farmed with- 
out irrigation or fertilizing are becoming scarce. There are lands north of 
the corn belt that are good, but frosts often interfere with the raising of 
even small grains. Life is more of a struggle, and the past winter admon- 
ishes that severe penalties come to those who venture too far north. Hardy, 
Venturesorrfl people, however, will settle on those lands eventually, and 
learn by experience how to wrest a living from them. The new Southwest, 
coming into commercial relations with the world, offers the last cheap, good 
lands under genial skies on the continent. The Territories, and all the 
States except Texas, offer Government land under the various federal laws 
that apply to squatting, pre-empting, and homesteading of different kinds 
of land in varying quantities. Texas controls her own lands. The even- 
numbered sections are devoted to schools, making a more than liberal en- 
dowment. The State has disposed of her other lands. Three years' actual 
residence is required of purchasers, after which they can pay up and get 
title, at the rate of two dollars an acre for land not touching living 
water, and three dollars an acre for land that does. As much as 640 acres 
can be taken this way. A small payment is required at settlement of the 
land, and then forty years' time, at five per cent, is given if desired. All 
through the large ranches the settler on his section of land may be 
seen. 

"The ranchman must pay four cents an acre to the school fund, as rent, 
for all enclosed lands. The lease is at an end whenever a settler desires to 
purchase. In the southern part of the Panhandle, where population has 
become dense enough to require schools, and school sections are taken up to 
some extent, the funds are ample now to support the schools. It does not 
require a lively imagination to see what will be the result when all these 
alternate sections are taken up. Such a school fund will be provided, with 
reasonable care, that no taxes whatever need be levied upon the people to 
support schools, and what a relief it will be to an industrial community! 
Iowa people notice that about half their taxes are for school purposes. Just 
as fast as growing neighborhoods cause land to rise, the State will no 
doubt raise the valuation on the adjacent school lands, so that not only will the 



26 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

different funds be provided for, but books may be provided, if it be not 
feared that it would enter the domain of too much coddling. It will be but 
a short time till people will discover this rare 

"OPPORTUNITY TO SECURE CHEAP HOMES 

On good farming land. The Panhandle was as inaccessible as Alaska till 
the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth Division of the Union Pacific System 
opened it up. A few ranchmen had bought up the lands that were for sale at 
very low rates by the State. Means more or less questionable were used some- 
times to get possession of school lands. The ranchman did not want settlers; of 
course it was too far from market to grow crops, 200 miles in many cases, so the 
country remained as Nature left it. All this is now changed, or rapidly 
changing. People who want good land from the eastern Gulf States, who have 
ruined their farms by growing cotton, or who find no profit in paying for 
fertilizers, are looking over the Panhandle. People from the low-lying river 
and coast districts, with bad livers, are seeking the high, healthy uplands 
of the Panhandle. People from the Northwest who have reached middle 
life, and suffer from severe winters, and do not want to bother with tOAVn 
lots in boomed localities, or meddle with fruit-growing, are looking over 
this new locality, and are generallyTiharmed with it. Heads ot families in 
the north who want more acres, so as to keep the young people about 
them, have heard of the low prices, and open winters, convenient seaports, 
and wide range of crops, from peanuts to winter wheat, and are looking the 
country over. A few years will settle up the Panhandle of Texas. 

"A MINGLING OF CROPS. 

" It has often been asked, 'What would have been the future of the 
New England States if the Pilgrims had first settled in the Mississippi 
Valley?' I suppose the shallower soils of New England would have waited 
till the deeper soils of the great river were occupied. The question now 
presents itself in kindred shape regarding lower latitudes where wheat and 
other cereals will grow well, and animal life develop well. Much of the 
very finest land on the continent within those latitudes has not 
been accessible, and much of it is not now. What we have all read about 
the desirableness of Oklahoma, within Indian Territory, applies equally id 
the Panhandle country and much of adjacent New Mexico and Southerfi 
Colorado. They all lie within the same latitude, but the Indian Territor* 
Is barred to white men by federal statutes assigning It to the aborigines, 
and \Yant of railroads has heretofore barred farmers from the territory on 
the west. 

" It Is interesting to see the grouping of the crops in this latitude, 
planted by men from different States of the Union. The Georgians and 
Mississippians and settlers from Alabama plant cotton, peanuts, and 
peaches. The Kentuckian plants tobacco. The settler from Louisiana 
plants ribboned sugar-cane and sweet potatoes. Northern settlers plant 
winter wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, northern potatoes, beets, cabbage, 



THE TEXAvS PANHANDLE. r-r 

corn, apples and the like. The man from Upper Colorado sows alfalfa,, 
and talks of irrigating his garden, and does it, and gets such returns a.* 
Iowa 'people would only believe if they saw them. Extremes meet, the^ 
upper and the lower latitudes mingle crops and customs. Sententious, 
expressions result: ' We - can grow anything.' Enterprising breeders, 
are there with horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs from all the approved' 
breeders of Europe and Ainerica. I saw a pair of fine Berkshires in the 
Ritoo Blanco cailon fifty miles from a postolfice. I saw Polled Angus, 
Hereford and Short-Horns at Buffalo Spriijgs (managed by Mr. Farwell, a 
Powesheik man), 80 miles from Tascosa, the nearest postoffice. People up 
here want to improve the ' she cattle ' as they term them, and the conten- 
tion is quite as lively as in the northwest regarding favorite breeds.. 
" I might say incidentally, that 

"THE PANHANDLE HOG 

Is a natural concern. He has an old-fashioned face with a -nam toUy His 
neck has not been bred away. He has real, sure-enough legs, and only 
dies when he can't help it. I have two-thirds of a notion to bring some off 
them back to lowft. There is no hog cholera here. The hog is troubledl 
with nothing but appetite. When I saw him I remembered the experience; 
of a Pennsylvania breeder of Chester Whites who took a litter to a Norths 
Carolina State fair to sell. An adjacent pen of ' natives ' sold readily, while 
nobody asked the price of his. He inquired into the cause and was toLdi 
that nobody wanted a hog that a negro could run down. 

" There are few newspapers to the square league up that-a-way. Peo- 
ple from all over the Union meet and fraternize. SectioAal questions will' 
not be called up to disturb if interested parties wanting votes for something, 
will let them alone. The development of'the country is the all-engrossing, 
subject at present. Northern men are very much wanted because of their' 
knowledge of grain and stock-farming. At Fort Worth, a town of 30,000i 
people, northern men are elected to ofSce as mayor and aldermen in their 
fitness for the positions. If anybody thinks that Fort Worth people are; 
slow coaches, he will b5 mistaken if he acts on the belief in a business way.. 
Everybody seems conscious that the country will develop rapidly and values 
enhance as rapidly, and the hope of gain quickens the gait of the people. 

"As to the continuance of the ranchman, who owns much of the lands in 
the Panhandle, he cannot keep these lands for raising low-priced cattle 
after the settler offers him more per acre than the long-horned steer will 
pay interest on. They ask from .fl.50 to 13.00 an acre, bodies of land from 
4,000 to 100,000 acr'fes being offered at these prices. Colonies could buy 
out ranchman and cattle together, or they could get the State school lands 
outside of the ranch fences, or inside of them. Settlers with the power of 
taxation understand the methods necessary to get rid of speculators in land, 
although the maximum levy is fixed by the State for all purposes at present. 

"FUEL AND WOOD. 

"Southwestern Texas is heavily wooded. The long-leafed or hard 
resinous pine abounds. It is used for nearly all the purpose? there for 



38 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

which the soft pine of the North is used in the Northwest. It is quite 
cheap at the forests, as are most of the woods in the new Southwest. ' 
Bois (TArc (Osage orange) is the post timber down here. It is greatly 
preferred to red cedar, and is said to be practically indestructible. I 
observed a peculiar supply of firewood. The Canadian River drains the 
woody heights of New Mexico and Colorado. During freshets it brings 
down large quantities of trees, which it strews along its banks as the waters 
subside. Everywhere on the stream you will see the trees lying. Settlers 
go twenty miles and haul them out for fuel and other farm purposes. 
Very little firewood is needed, even in January, except to cook with, 
although a fire in the open fire-places of the adobe buildings is pleasant in 
the evening. Before the advent of the Denver, Texas & Fort Worth 
Division of the Union Pacific System, the Canadian Eiver banks were the 
source of supply for fuel on the upper reaches of the stream. Cottonwood 
groves are found on the river bottoms occasionally; even in Northern Texas, 
and occasionally other trees, giving evidence that trees woi^ld grow if they 
were planted, and prairie fires were kept out. Some streams have consid- 
erable wood upon them, but the Panhandle is a prairie country; and while 
I have no doubt that it will grow trees, as all prairie countries will, yet 
convenient timber for farm purposes in most instances is not to be had. It 
can be had inside of the State, which, in these days of dual jurisdiction in 
transportation matters, is a point worth noticing. Texas can control 
nearly all the transportation necessary to her people, independent of Inter- 
state Commerce. As near as I could learn, building lumber was selling in 
the upper Panhandle at about the same prices Iowa people pay at their 
railroad stations.- The farmers of a prairie country can, and many do, 
grow their own fuel. But many will not, and the distance to the coal 
fields is one of interest. Coal has not been found in the Panhandle that I 
could hear of. It lies immediately northeast, in Kansas, from which State 
a railroad now runs up to connect near the center of tire Panhandle with 
the Denver railroad. Coal in great abund9,nce will also enter it from 
Trinidad, on the northwest; so that for' all purposes to which coal can be 
put, it is practically as convenient as if within Texan borders. 

"The fuel question for this latitude is not to be compared in expense 
with snow-covered countries. Cold winds do extend down here, but their 
force is much lessened, and their continuance comparatively short. The 
great wood-piles and crammed coal-houses necessary to existence in north- 
ern latitudes are not needed here. People who dress in thin cotton 
clothing and live in tents, or houses built for summer convenience, get 
cold and suffer from it. Stock that have not enough to eat, and for a home 
only the shelter of a wire fence, suffer when the north wind blows, and die 
sometimes of low vitality. Climate will not take the place of woolens and 
beefsteak with a man, nor will it answer for fodder with a horse or cow; but 
northern clothing needs the help of but little artificial heat for man, and 
plenty of food would enable animals to weather any storm without anything 
further. 

"The primitive buildings made by the Mexicans were of sun-dried 
bricks, called ' adobe.' Open fire-places were all that were necessary for 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 29 

heating purposes. The settlers now going on to lands build according to 
their means. The most modest dwellings seen are simply cellars roofed 
over, with windows in the end. Families with very little capital can make 
a beginning. In early days in Iowa we got sod corn from the new 
prairies, and settlers in the Northwest lately have sown flax on the newly 
broken prairies. Wheat is sown on the newly broken prairie in the 
Panhandle, and something immediate is gotten to tide over with. This 
is not farming; but one can only admire the grit that attacks fortune 
this way; and no doubt the poor settler thus addressing himself to 
Mother Earth for shelter and food, is grateful for the blessings he receives. 
Some very grand Americans were raised in a similar manner. In old times 
it was the log house. In Dakota, it is the sod house. In Texas, it is the 
semi-cellar, because there are but few trees to make log houses, the sod is 
too mellow to make sod houses, and so the courageous settler does the next 
best thing. Seven years ago Mr. A. T. Boger, of Vernon, began this way. 
1 saw the old house. Last year he took the premium at the State fair for 
the best farm exhibit. His family now live in a nice frame building. He- 
is a supervisor or commissioner now of his county. His people henor him. 
I honor him. 

" Adobe buildings are comparatively expensive, and it requires the help 
of an expert to erect them. When any one is prepared now to go to the 
expense of an adobe building, the frame structure is preferred. So that style 
is going out of vogue. 

"There is a singular body of timber south of the Panhandle known 
as the 'Cross Timbers of Texasf It extends across the State from 
south to north. It is ten to twelve miles wide, and is similar to our burr 
oak, where I saw it, and is suitable for fence posts It will supply a world 
of fencing material to the new settlers, as the Denver and Fort Worth road 
runs through it. The soil seems sandy in the ' Cross .Timbers ' but, sure 
enough, the fellow who was raised in a ' timbered country ' is there, grubbing 
out the trees. I suppose the train would not stop to have these fools chased 
out, so they are there yet." 

FODDER. ■ 

"The future of the Panhandle country depends upon its ability to fur- 
nish fodder, among other things. The wild grasses that now sustain 1,500 
head of cattle summer and winter, sometimes in an excellent, sometimes in 
an indifferent,, way, would continue to do so in the future; but it is scarcely 
worth one's while to inquire into that. The soil is capable of sustaining a 
dense population, provided nothing prevents it from yielding sustenance for 
man and beast. To what extent 

" IT WILL YIELD 

Timothy, the clovers, or other cultivated grasses that flourish in latitudes 
farther north, has not been demonstrated. Within a year or two some trials 
have been made that have not been very successful. Whether the trials 
were fair, and so timed as to give the crops the advantage of the best 



30 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

months, is not known, as nobody yet knows what months are the best. It is 
not surprising that grass seeds sown in April or May of 1887, in Texas, should 
turn out a poor stand, as they almost utterly failed under like conditions in 
more northern States, where they are considered at home. It is interesting 
to note that the expedients to which Iowa farmers were compelled to resort 
during 1886 and 188 7, when fodders were scarce, have been adopted by peo- 
ple in the Panhandle as their most reliable and regular fodders. Sorghum 
and millet grow vigorously in all counties I have visited, from the latitude 
of Southern Kansas to that of Fort Worth. The high altitude and low lati- 
tude of this locality present a combination of conditions peculiar to itself. 
Between 23 degrees and 37 degrees there is a long season of growing warm 
weather after mid-summer, when fodder crops can be sown, grown, matured, 
and harve&ted; and at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 feet the weather 
is comparatively moderate in which to work. Sorghum is said by all with 
whom I have talked to be a sure crop in a time of low average rainfall. I 
have examined the crop in different localities, and find that it is in excellent 
condition for fodder. Two hundred tons were grown on fifty acres on 
Buffalo Springs fai-m, within a mile of the neutTal land strip, or No Man's 
Land, at an elevation of over 4,700 feet above the level of the sea. Similar 
reports come from all (fver the Panhandle. It is planted in rows» like 
fodder corn, quite thickly, so as to secure a fine stalk. It is cut and 
bunched and cared so as to prevent souring, adding a little to the bunch 
as the curing process goes on. All kinds of animals eat the fodder eagerly, 
seed and butt, and thrive well upon it. If Northern Texas had no other 
fodder resource, this alone would enable the farmer on limited territory to 
provide for stock during the short winter and during a drouth in summer. 
I do not think that either Iowa or Texas farmers give this plant the atten- 
tion it deserves in seasons like the two past. It would help every steer on 
the ranges, no matter how wide his pasture. It would be a great help to 
the range calf during his first winter, to cows coming in, and to colts, and 
will no doubt come into general use. 

"SOME OTHER FODDERS. 

"Millet is also grown as a fall crop. Eighty tons grew on fifty acres on 
the farm where the sorghum I have spoken of was planted. It will make a 
crop if sown in the last days of August, as frosts rarely come before 
November, and are not heavy at any time as northern men understand 
frosts. However, the season for millet is over, of course, when frost stops 
its growth. Fall rains sufficient to sprout the seed regularly occur, I am 
told, and the best evidence of that is the presence of the millet. It has been 
tried as a spring crop with good results. It has not been irrigated, nor in- 
deed tried in any way generally but as a fall crop; but as such it gives great 
promise of ability to help change the Panhandle from a ranch country to a 
farming country. 

" Alfalfa grows vigorously in this region. Three crops were cut in the sea- 
son of 1887 without irrigation. The first trial was with the land in condition 
as it happened to be during the drouth of that year, and forty tons were cut 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 3i 

from thirty acres. The stand was too thin, evidently, but alfalfa seems to 
take a vigorous hold on the soil. It sends down its roots deep in the soil, 
and is evidently at home. 

" This same farm had thirty acres of oats that for some reason were 
a very light crop. Only eight tons were cut. The land, its condition, the 
time of sowing, or the kind of oats, or something, was wrong. The fodder 
was very good, however, what there was of it. Seventy acres of corn-fodder 
were planted in rows, from which 210 tons were cut. When it was in tassel 
it was cut for fear the prevailing drouth would injure it. 

"A farm in Huckley county, 200 miles from the north line of the State, 
reported 

"SIX HUNDRED BUSHELS OF CORN FROM TWENTY ACRES; 

In 1887, twenty-five tons of millet from thirty-five acres; one hundred 
tons of sorghum from fifty acres; eight acres of rice corn grew 216 
bushels. 

" The above farming was done by ranchmen, in spells when they could 
leave ranch work. The stock were first in estimation and farming operations 
second. Some of the tools were good, and some were middling. Nobody 
had any experience with crops, and few ranchmen can be induced to plant 
anything. 

"There is farm after farm in Iowa conducted with all the experience that 
a quarter of a century of familiarity with soil and season has given, that did 
no better in 1887 than the foregoing showing. One needs to be careful in 
speaking of a new country, incidentallyj and the safest report is one con- 
sisting of facts. It is new to me to see cattle on a thousand hills live the 
year round on grass that never entirely loses its nourishing virtues, on soil 
that seems, from all that I can learn and observe, to be equal — much of it — 
to Iowa soil, in a climate that is as delightful in January as Iowa weather 
in June, where the growing season is long owing to its low latitude, and cool 
in summer owing to its high altitude; and I naturally inquire whether the 
conditions necessary to comfortable life are so favorable that men desiring 
homes in milder climates at cheap rates can live by cultivating small areas, 
and the requirements of a farm include fodders among other things. I 
think the Panhandle will grow them. I inquired concerning 

"EXPERIMENTS WITH TREE-GROWING. 

"The country here looks as Iowa looked thirty years ago, excepting the 
Iowa grove and the timber belts that skirted the streams. I asked for 
information respecting tree-planting of fifty men before I could hear of one 
attempt. The Buffalo Springs farm people have experimented with catal- 
pas, box elder, gray ash, black locust, alanthus, soft maples and black 
cherry. All have done well in the nursery except the black cherry, which 
utterly failed for some unknown reason, and the soft maple, which only did 
indifferently well. 

"The region is comparatively treeless, and it will be of the first interest 
to it to have tree-growing thoroughly tried. I have no doubt whatever that 



33 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

trees of many kinds will thrive well here. The two years' growth of those 
mentioned promises very well indeed. Last year they all made two-feet 
growths, and are living to the extreme buds. They will be planted out in place 
as soon as land can be prepared for them on the average uplands, and will 
determine for coming settlers what can be done in this direction. There is 
no question about the farmer's succeeding here — and that, too without irri- 
gation — who can go to the expense of boring for water or making cisterns, 
or who can get control of one of the springs or localities where water can 
be reached within a few feet, and there are many such. 

" Water for stock is the prime consideration on the table-lands; and yet 
I think it will cost Iowa farmers as much to get water on the divides for 
large herds as it will in the Panhandle of Texas. The country has plenty 
of water at distances ranging all the way from ten to three hundred feet. 
No systematic efforts that I could hear of have been made to get flowing 
wells in northern counties. One near the line of New Mexico was sunk 1,100 
feet; the water rose to within forty feet of the surface, and was rising as 
the boring went down, when the drill broke, and nobody here knows a way 
to get it out. 

"ABOUT GRASSES. 

"There are two southern grasses that deserve attention — the Bermuda 
and the Johnson. The Bermuda is said to occupy the same place in grazing 
economy in the South that blue grass has in the Northwestern States. It 
requires rich land to make hay, but the Johnson grass is the hay plant of 
low latitudes, as near as I can ascertain. It is said to be hard to kill when 
once it takes root, and on that account many speak of it with aversion. It 
sells at Fort Worth for twelve dollars a ton at present, and it is said to pro- 
duce so much to the acre, and can be cut so often in one season, that I hes- 
itate to give the stories. One thing I am sure of, if I were farming in the 
Panhandle I would devote a field to it. Hogs are said to live to some ex- 
tent on its roots. It ripens in the fall like a grain crop and is not a winter 
grazing crop. The farmer who successfully farms in low latitudes must 
study what nature attempts to grow, and improve upon that. Deep-rooting 
plants are nature's favorites here. The alfalfa goes down deep and has a 
large root. I believe the large red clover would also do well, but surface- 
rooting plants would have to contend with too much heat and too little 
moisture at times ; consequently I doubt if blue grass and white clover 
would succeed except on favoring locations. The southern farmer must 
find grasses to recuperate with. Until he determines what will improve 
upon the native grasses, he should be good to them and make the best of 
them. 

"Millions of acres have been ruined in the Gulf States by perpetual cot- 
ton-growing, just as wheat culture impoverished the northern valleys from 
the Geneseo to the Missouri. Graziers seeded them down and put on the 
cow, the sheep and the mare, and the land kindly returned to good heart 
and smiled again. The southern farmer is passing through a transition 
state. A consideration of the cotton-grower is foreign to this series of top- 
ics. He is moving westward, leaving barren fields behind him. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 33 

"THE TEXAS CATTLE MEN 

In the Panhandle are making beef under different circumstances from what 
existed a few years ago. Then they had free and abundant range. Now 
they pay rent to the State for their school lands. Heavier stocking has 
made it more difficult to pasture, and required fences to include great 
pastures, and wells to furnish water. The ranchmen are not excused from 
herding, although barbed wire fences have been erected. Men on ponies 
must ride the fences every day. The cattle break them often. These things 
make beef-raising on the ranch more expensive than formerly, while the beef 
brings far less, owing to the crisis through which the ranch is passing. The 
farmer is taking the place of the ranchman gradually. Long-horned steers 
may be tolerated where land has scarcely a value, but when it rises a very 
little in value, the Long-Horn will not pay interest. I think it would be 
luckless for this new country If exclusive grain-raisers should settle it. 
There are considerable portions that are only suitable for grazing — sandy 
stretches, gravelly sections, and the vicinity of rivers and creeks. The rich 
black, red, and brown levels that comprise a major part of the Panhandle 
country are a permanent soil. JAMES WlLSO^ff, 

''Tama County, Iowa." 

RESIDENT TESTIMONY. 

Hon. J. D. Murdock of Clarendon says: " I own a farm seven miles from 
Clax'endon. Oats sown in February made 40 to 45 bushels per acre; millet 
sown in April produced 2)4 tons per acre; sorghum planted in May produced 
6 to 8 tons of fodder per acre. Sorghum ripens well. I have raised 30 
bushels of seed per aci'e. Milo-maize grows 11 feet high, and yields 25 
bushels of grain per acre, which is equal to Indian corn for fattening horses, 
hogs, or chickens. Drilled in rows 4 feet apart, a peck of seed to the acre 
planted in July, Milo-maize made me 8 tons of fodder per acre, equal for 
feeding to the best of hay. Egyptian corn yields 20 bushels to the acre, 
planted May 1st. Sweet potatoes make a large crop, specimens weighing 
from 5 to 73^ pounds each. Onions, pumpkins, squash, melons, cucumbei'S, 
peas, beans, and beets grow a large crop." 

S. Morris, living in Wheeler county, near Fort Elliott, in the Panhandle, 
and about fifty miles north of Clarendon, says: "We raise 40 to 50 bushels 
to the acre. Never measured my sweet potatoes, but the yield is large, 
and size large, averaging 3 pounds each. Have made two crops of sorghum 
fodder in a year, cutting 3 tons each time. We have pea.ch and plum trees 
old enough to bear, and yield well; apples and pears are growing well, but 
not old enough to bear yet. Irish potatoes make about 150 bushels to the 
acre, and are ripe about July 1st. I have fed and fattened cattle on sor- 
ghum, and think the feeding iwid fattening of cattle will play out grazing, 
as more profitable." 

Mr. Graves, of Epworth, Hale county, came from Albany, N. Y., five years 
ago. He purchased a piece of prairie land, and put a portion of it under 
cultivation. His net cash profit, from the 40 acres he broke, after includ- 



U TfiE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

ing his living expenses for his family, in the shape of food, fuel, etc., was , 
for the first year, $475; the second year's crop, under similar conditions as 
to living expenses, with 65 acres under the plow, netted him $980; the 
third year, with 50 acres under cultivation, netted him $1,500; while for the 
present year, with 50 acres under cultivation, he has fair promise of ah 
equal return for his labor. Mr. Graves states that the soil was easily 
worked after being broken the first time, and that there could be no ques- 
tion about the great richness and value of the lands in the Panhandle for 
agricultural purposes. 

In 1882, Mr. A. T. Boger went to Wilbarger county, within six miles of 
where Vernon now stands, with a span of mules, a wagon, his wife, two 
babies, and $150 in money, and commenced life in a dugout. In 1887, with 
his own labor, except extra help in harvest and threshing time, he raised 
500 bushels of wheat, averaging 33 bushels per acre; 3,500 bushels of oats, 
averaging 60 bushels to the acre; 1,700 bushels of corn, from 35 acres; 20 tons 
of millet, {rom 11 acres, and 115 bushels of sweet potatoes. Besides this, 
he had hogs,- chickens, butter, and vegetables to use and sell. In the year 
1885, which was a very fruitful year, he had a better crop still. He has now 
a good house of five rooms, a barn, outbuildings, a well, 800 acres under 
fence, a good young orchard, and owes no man anything. 

In 1888, Mr. Boger, with the labor of a boy sixteen years old, raised 
10,000 bushels of grain, the wheat averaging 35 bushels per acre, the oats 85 
bushels, and the corn 35 bushels. This is the greatest amount of grain ever 
produced in one season, by two pair of hands, upon the face of the earth. 
All this happened in the great Panhandle country ! Mr. Boger is a native 
of Northern Georgia, and is not afraid to work. 

William Dick, Newport, Clay county, raised 240 bushels of peanuts per 
acre. 

W. C. Wilson in the same neighborhood raised 500 bushels of sweet 
potatoes and 400 bushels of Irish potatoes to the acre. 

C. C. Horn, Esq., resides two and a half miles from Wichita Falls, 
Wichita county, Texas, and is sixty-three years old. He cultivated sod 
ground with the following result: 14 acres of corn, 480 bushels; 75 acres of 
wheat, 1,500 bushels; 42 acres of oats, 2,500 bushels; 3 acres of sorghum, 8 
tons; ^ acre Egyptian corn, 25 bushels; 1 acre of rye, 15 bushels; on X acre 
of melons he had thousands. He had two horses and hired help to the 
amount of $57.50. 

J. Q. Morrison, Wichita Falls, states that he has examined the crops 
raised by Mr. Horn and estimates the yield of wheat at 25 bushels and oats 
at 75 bushels per acre. 

H.J. Stanley, residing one mile south of Harrold, Wilbarger county, 
Texas, purchased 640 acres in July, 1887. Qe planted 100 acres in wheat, 
which yi^ed 2,100 bushels; 100 acres in oats, 5,500 bushels; 55 acres in 
millet and sorghum, 600 bushels of millet and 40 tons of hay; 60 acres of 
corn, about 1,500 bushels. He had the help of two men . He reports the 
amount realized as follows: Wheat, $1,380: oats, $1,375; millet seed, $450; 
hay, $400; corn, $750; sorghum, $150; total from sod ground, $4,505. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 35 

McArthur Bros., six miles southwest of Vernon, hiave 750 bushels of wheat 
from 25 acres, and 2,860 bushels of oats from 25 acres. 

Columbus Waller, residing three miles from Wichita Falls, raised on 93 
acres of sod laud, 2,737 bushels of wheat — 29^ bushels per acre. 

J. Miller, residing near Doan's postoffice, Wilbarger county, raised 35 
bushels of wheat per acre. 

The oats crop of A. T. Bayner, same place, ran 50 bushels to the acre. 
The average for wheat has been 21 bushels, oats 30 bushels, millet 2 tons, 
sorghum 4 tons per acre. 

M. J. McDonald, four miles from Quanah, Hardeman county, raised 2,825 
bushels of wheat on 100 acres — 28J^ bushels to the acre; and 3,450 bushels 
of oats on 75 acres — 46 bushels to the acre. 

J. S. Harper, living five miles east of Quanah, raised 24)^ bushels of 
wheat per acre on 40 acres. W. J. Good & Son report IIX tons Johnson 
grass per acre. James Killigrew, 26 bushels of wheat per acre. Rev. W. D. 
Wear, 24^ bushels of wheat per acre. William Hunter, 26 bushels of wheat 
per acre. 

In 1888 Wilbarger was the frontier wheat county; in 1889-90 it is Harde- 
man; next year it will be Childress county; and so the wheat belt is moving 
on toward the northwest. 

The expense and profit of opening up 160 acres of land in the center of 
this wheat belt, have been figured out as follows: Good average land costs 
per acre, f6.00; breaking same, $2.00; seed-wheat, $1.00; putting in, $1.00; 
cutting and threshing, $2.00; marketing-, $1.00. Total cost of land and crop 
for first year, $13.00 per acre. Average wheat crop, 25 bushels; average price 
received this year (1889), 80 cents. Results of first year, $20.00 per acre, 
leaving net earnings, covering the cost of the land, $4.00 per acre. 

The following later reports from farmers show the crop results in 
Wichita County : 

J. Reed, living three miles north of Wichita Palls, made 902 bushels off 
from 28 acres of land, — an average of 32 bushels per acre. 

J. G. Hai'din (from Crockett county, Tenn.), whose farm is ten miles 
from Wichita Falls, made an average of 27 bushels per acre. 

M. Dodson (from White county, Tenn.), who lives ten miles from Wichita 
Falls, made 32 bushels and 3 pecks per acre. 

S. P. Hawkins (from Crockett county, Tenn.), whose farm is on Red 
River, ten miles from Wichita Falls, had in 44 acres, and harvested 1,350 
bushels, making an average of 29 bushels per acre. 

F. W. Longbine (from Missouri), also of Red River Valley, made 25 
bushels per acre on 30 acres of land. 

E. Rexford (from Illinois), living nine miles from Wichita Falls, garnered 
1,128 bushels off 40 acres, making an average of 28>^ bushels per acre. 

B. P. Willis (from Illinois), of Gilbert Creek, harvested 840 bushels 
from 30 acres of land, making an average of 28 bushels per acre. 

J. S. Moody (from Arkansas), an old man 57 years old, living three 
miles from Wichita Falls, with but little hired help, cultivated about 100 
acres of land. From 40 acres he threshed, by actual mes,surement, 1,380 



36 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

bushels of wheat, an average of 343^ bushels to the acre. He also had 35 
acres in oats and 25 acres in corn, which made 60 bushels to the acre of the 
former and 50 bushels of the latter. 

W. H. Hazzard (from Missouri), of Gilbert Creek, sowed 23 bushels of 
wheat and harvested 705 bushels. 

F. M. Davis (from Alabama), sheriff of the county, made 1,500 bushels 
of wheat on 50 acres of ground. 

J. H. Barwise (from St. Charles county, Mo.), postofiBce address, Wichita 
Falls, had in cultivation 270 acres; 160 acres in wheat, average 21 bushels 
to the acre; in corn 60 acres, average of 35 bushels to the acre; oats 30 acres, 
average 40 bushels to the acre; spring barley 10 acres, average 20 bushels to 
the acre; sorghum 10 acres, cut twice for feed, yield 80 tons. ■- 

D. J. Calkins (from Muskingum county, Ohio) who lives five miles south — 
address, Wichita Falls — has 100 acres in corn, average 40 bushels to the 
acre. 

U. R. Evans (from Jefferson county, N. Y.), lives one mile from town — 
address, Wichita Falls. Has 27 acres in wheat, which made 29 bushels to 
the acre. 

B. F. Hooks (from Iowa), who lives 12 miles from Wichita Falls, came 
to the county late in the fall of 1888, and did not get his ground ready until 
December. He broke and put in 45 acres, however, and threshed oujt 800 
bushels of wheat as the result of his- labors. 

A. A. Parmer (formerly from Missouri), who has a large farm, had this 
year 700 acres of ground in cultivation, as follows: 120 acres in wheat, from 
which he realized 2,500 bushels; 275 acres in oats, from which he made 
10,000 bushels; 60 acres in corn, from which he made 2,000 bushels; and 225 
acres in sorghum, from which he cut 1,000 tons. The gross proceeds of his- 
crop were $7,000, his expenses were $1,500, and his net proceeds $5,500. 
His land cost him about $4 per acre. 

Ed. Wilson (formerly from Illinois) had an average wheat yield of 32 
bushels to the acre; lives one mile from Wichita Falls. 

T. M. Bingham (formerly from Nunan, Ga.), has 150 acres in culti- 
vation; wheat averaged 26 bushels to the acre, corn 35 bushels, and oats 40. 

Ed. Roe, six miles from Wichita t'alls (from Missouri); corn, 45 bushels to 
the acre; wheat, 28; oats, 42. 

W. C. Heath (from Dallas county, Tex.); 600 acres in cultivation two 
and a half miles from Wichita Falls; wheat averaged 29 bushels; oats, 45; 
corn, 40. 

A, Dickinson (from New York State) lives two and a half miles from 
town; wheat, 27 bushels to the acre; oats, 42. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 37 

FRUIT CULTURE. 

Fruit culture promises to become a leading and important industry in 
the lower Paniiandle country. Last year (1889) over $360,000 worth of 
peaches, apricots, apples, pears, plums and grapes have found a market, 
iargely in Colorado, from the counties of Wise, Montague, and Clay. Low 
rates of express and fast freight give this locality great advantage over 
Souihern California, and will in a short time drive every other fruit-pro- 
ducing section out of that market. 

Peaches. — In no section of the United States do peaches bear a larger 
and finer average crop than in the counties between Ft. Worth and Wichita 
Falls. In size they are remarkable, some measuring 11>^ inches in circum- 
ference. In flavor they are superior to anything grown in California. 

Apples and Pears. — These fruits are promising remarkably well in every 
county north of Ft. Worth where they have been planted. The trees are 
as yet too young to speak positively of the yield, but for quality and flavor 
they now compare favorably with other sections where they are a staple 
crop. 

Plums. — This is the native home of the Chickasaw Plum, which grows 
luxuriously and bears abundantly. 

Qrapes. — All varieties of grapes grow well and yield enormously, includ- 
ing the American varieties. Hybrids and foreign varieties, the latter only 
requiring slight winter protection, just as they do at Messilla and Las 
Cruces, New Mexico, and Pasa del Norte, Mexico, now famous for grape 
culture. 

Vegetxibles. — All kinds of garden vegetables are cultivated, and pi'oduce 
abundantly without fail. The entire country traversed by this line of rail- 
way will without doubt become the great market-gardening section for sup- 
plying the markets of Colorado and the mining regions with early vege- 
tables, particularly root crops and melons. 

Siveet Potatoes. — There have been grown as high as 350 bushels of sweet 
potatoes to the acre in Clay county, which may be considered the center of 
the best potato region. Good crops have been grown as far north as 
Wheeler county. 

STOCK-RAISING. 

It is almost superfluous to speak of the prospects for stock-raising in the 
famous Staked Plains of Texas. A report giving statistics for twelve years 
of the Chicago live stock trade, and published in February, 1890, will give 
the reader some idea of the immense number of cattle sent from Texas to 
one city alope. 



38 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

MONTHLY RECEIPTS OF RANGE CATTLE FOR NINE YEARS. 



Months. 


1889. 


1888. 


1887. 


1886. 


1885. 


1884. 


1883. 


1882. 


1881. 


_ I Ranerers. 




528 

7,215 
















J'luuary JtSs 


3,460 


3,521 


710 


2,056 


750 


106 


20 




February jxexlns.' 


1,924 


4,100 


1,780 


3,720 

320 

1,940 


960 


880 


140 


380 




March iTexiL: 


1,975 


3,943 

468 

8,145 

694 

34,295 

a35 

67,482 

1,817 

91,570 

21,250 

96,200 

91,334 

64,385 

100,258 

63,251 

36,515 

68,210 

6,310 

38,390 


3,945 


560 

342 

1,064 

1,080 

3,662 


3,450 


103 


500 




April jSns." 


7,992 


6,124 

' 24', 774 

53', .500 
994 
69,5;)0 
12,490 
92,130 
67,224 
63,200 
101,822 
61,120 
67,145 
54,274 
12,100 
52,600 


5,620 

1,410 

11,050 

445 

38,440 

8,116 
56,926 
30,800 
55,330 
71,460 
43.106 
84,734 
49,915 
39,520 
33,928 

3,900 
31,100 


4,380 


281 


1,980 




■*^*y 1 Texans. 

ju- i?Ss"- 

July j?tS" 

August j«Ss^- 

September ) «-|-- 

October jSnT- 

November ] f-f-' 

^-ember ] f Ss" 


33,242 

69,614 

4,090 

88,843 

13,651 

95,238 

55,240 

90,605 

67,100 

115,307 

18,415 

77,342 

1,900 

31,215 


6,640 


4,860 


38,500 
1,900 
67,540 
13,400 
76,140 
33,340 
56,700 
09,440 
44,420 
77,100 
83,910 
34,430 
33,390 
2,100 
3,920 




36,786 
1,364 
49,300 
36,420 
69,440 
65,585 
49,460 
76,144 
41,552 
28,230 
39,240 
2,945 
14,124 


38,980 
4,340 
71,940 
27,855 
60,681 
56,343 
48,523 
90,636 
50,800 
51,340 
62,600 
1,420 
18,040 


20,100 
3,250 
48,900 
31,080 
46,200 
53,130 
25,740 
74,950 
56,140 
34,330 
41,580 
9,50 
13,690 


13,500 
6,100 
40,000 
33,900 
41,000 
56,340 
22,800 
7S,040 
9,300 
22,360 
16,840 
3,800 
6,160 


Total for j Rangers, 
the Year — | Texans. 


160,396 
616,757 


369,509 
547,185 


361,275 
485,538 


240,695 
330,830 


302,040 
298,188 


231,734 
357,574 


176,680 
256,340 


220,700 
346,300 


193,540 
148,100 



Mr. Wilson, in his admirable letters before mentioned, pointed out that 
the reign of the cow-boy would be shortened, and his prediction is verified 
to-day. The results which have obtained in Wyoming and Colorado are 
reappearing in the Panhandle country. The number of cattle kings 
diminishes yearly, and the herds of stock are becoming smaller and more 
equally distributed among the population. The stock interests, instead of 
remaining in the hands of the few, now become an adjunct to the farm, and 
not the governing industry of the country. The great cattle ranges are 
being broken up into farms, and their number grows less every year. 

The fertile plains where grow perennial grasses skirted by living streams 
of good water, and bordered by storm-sheltering forests, make this State of 
"magnificent distances" and cheapest lands, the State of all States for the 
stock-raiser. The recent ofificial report shows a return as follows: 
1,518,167 head of horses and mules, valued at $38,552,167; of cattle, 
7,378,203 head, valued at $45,290,729; of sheep and goats, 4,772,721 head, 
valued at $5,786,197; of hogs, 1,440,750 head, valued at $2,135,336. 

Cattle are now valued at from $6 to $15 per head, and lands are leased at 
merely nominal figures of a few cents; and where it costs so little to feed 
and herd them, it takes but little to rear and flesh a beef for the eastern 
markets. The Long-Horns of Texas, however, are being rapidly bred out by 
the infusion of the Durham and Devonshire blood, and the dairy interests 
will soon succeed to prairie pastures, and model farms and creameries will 
keep Texas cotton seed, corn, oats, and hay at home. 

If there is a clear profit in the East in raising cattle on land worth 
anywhere from $60 to $150 per acre, there is certainly a " small margin " i© 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 3& 

a, stock farm in the Panhandle country, where land can be had for from $2 
to $5 per acre, where no barns are necessary, where food is cheap, and 
where there is no bad weather. 

Horses and Mules. — Horses and mules can be raised profitably anywhere 
on the line of the Panhandle Route, between Ft. Worth, Texas, and the 
Colorado line. The central and upper portion of the Panhandle country is 
best adapted for pasturing and fodder-raising, while the land is at present 
much cheaper than farther south, hence will offer the best inducements to 
those wishing to engage in stock culture. Bermuda grass will, without 
doubt, take the place of the native wild grasses, being adapted to the alti- 
tude and climate, and will endure close grazing and heavy trampling with- 
out being killed out. 

Blooded Stock. — What has been said of horses and mules will apply 
equally well to blooded stock of every kind. 

^ DAIRYING. 

This industry offers superior inducements to all who will embark in it. 
The markets are good, and the product will always command the highest 
prices, whether sent to the mountain region of Colorado or to the seaports 
on the Gulf Coast. Potter county is now considered a remarkably fine 
county for dairying. It is also profitably conducted in the older settled 
counties contiguous to Ft. Worth and the cities of the South. 

LANDS AND LAND LAWS. 

So much has been said of the great agricultural resources of the 
Panhandle country of Texas, a region 450 miles in extent, stretching from 
Fort Worth to Texline, that many seem to have lost sight of the fact that 
it is one of the most inviting fields in America for successful invest- 
ment. 

While it is true that it is the best wheat country in the United States, 
and one of the best, if not the best all around, farming regions, it is equally 
a splendid place for investments. Large profits can be made in lands, 
town sites, town lots, in building mills and elevators and in establishing 
banks. Lands in the last two years have made an advance on an average 
of 100 per cent, while in some counties, such as Wichita and Hardeman, 
lands have advanced even 200 per cent. Investments in towns have done 
equally as well. Perliapstown property on the line of the Panhandle Route 
has advanced in two years as much as 300 per cent, some towns like 
Quanah, Claude, Childress, Salisbury, and Amariilo, scoring from 200 to 500 
per cent advance. We know of no reason why the same country does not 
offer the same inducements to investors for the year 1890. 

One thing can be said in its favor, — prices are yet low for 
good farming lands. Good lands can yet be bought at from $3.00 to 
$10.00 per acre, according to location. [In the " Description of Counties" 
the reader will find the price of land in each county.] 



40 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

These lands are owned by the State of Texas, and may be purchased for 
bomesteads by actual settlers on forty years' time, with interest at five per 
cent, at from $3 to $3 per acre. 

Here is an empire in extent in which are, as yet, millions of acres of 
cheap land that will respond to every effort. The climate is all that could 
be desired — no long, cold winters. The average altitude being some three 
thousand feet above the sea, makes it a country of extreme healthfulness. 
Consumption and kindred diseases do not originate here. It is above the 
zone of yellow fever, and malaria is unknown. It is destined to become the 
home of a healthy, hardy race of people, and that which is true of the 
human race applies equally well to the health of all domestic animals. 
There are springs of pure, clear water, and living streams for those who 
first occupy the beautiful land where flowers bloom perennially, and the 
grass lives through the entire year. Is this the kind of a home you seek? 
If you do, there is danger in delay. This beautiful land is awaiting occu- 
pation to-day, but will not be vacant many months. 

Aside from the adaptability of these lands for agricultural purposes, 
there is a mild climate throughout the entire year, where farmers are not, 
from necessity, compelled to expend the whole earnings of the summer to 
provide for the necessities of the winter. There are transportation facili- 
ties affording advantages with reference to established and permanent mar- 
kets, where both the cost of production and consumption are much reduced, 
when compared with that of the older-settled States between the lakes and 
the Missouri River, and where the great questions of lumber and fuel sup- 
ply are solved, whereby the coal fields of Colorado and the pine forests of 
Southeastern Texas, are rendered accessible at reasonable cost. 

The histoi'y of the pioneer farmers who settled and developed the great 
country west of the Mississippi River, in acquiring lands at two or three 
dollars per acre, and having them enhanced ten and twenty fold within a 
few years, thus creating wealth while enjoying the comforts of a life of 
industry, will be repeated in this new field, and with quicker results than 
have ever been realized in the past. 

The person who seeks a home in the Panhandle, and expects to find it a 
paradise without effort on his part, will be disappointed here, as elsewhere. 
Neither should the man who has nothing but his own energy and muscle to 
depend upon, expect to realize the full extent of his hopes. " To him that 
hath shall be given " is as true to-day as it was eighteen hundred years ago, 
even though his possessions be limited in extent. 

It is essential to the fullest measure of success in this, as in any new 
country, that a man have at least supplies to carry him through one season, 
while he is learning to adapt his previous farming experience to the differ- 
ent requirements of this climate. He should have good teams, a few cows, 
and sufficient means to acquire his land and build his home, no matter how 
humble. For the man whose condition is such, there is no reason for a 
moment's hesitation. Stock farming — which means some attention to stock 
in connection with crops — is the true method of agriculture in the Panhandle 
of Texas. The man who has the good judgment to agree with this idea, 
and the intelligence to understand the conditions of the climate and 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 41 

resources x)f the soil, can find no fairer field in the entire universe. That 
man will in a very few years have an independent income, a lordly estate, 
increasing herds and flocks, waving fields of golden grain, bursting grana- 
ries, blooming orchards, convenient markets that can never be overstocked, 
and a home of happiness and contentment which he has had the satisfaction 
of arranging for himself. 

Where there are a number of families in a neighborhood who desire to 
emigrate to a new country, they should organize into a colony, and settle to- 
gether. By this method they take with them an acquaintanceship, and will 
be thus enabled to hold together and carry their peculiar views in regard 
to church and school management. In a financial way, colony organiza- 
tions can procure concessions and inducements from owners of town sites or 
large bodies of land, 'vho will often make large donations for special pur- 
poses to secure their location, and thus assist in a more rapid development 
of the adjoining country. This is even more important to the colonists 
themselves, as it gives them a settled community at once, where otherwise 
it would require years. General R. A. Cameron, Commissioner of Emigra- 
tion, Ft. Worth, has had a large and varied experience in colonization, and 
is ready to assist any people who desire to form colony organizations, and 
explain the best methods of conducting them. 

The following is a digest of the Public Land laWs of the State of Texas: — 

PUBLIC LANDS. 

Under this head is included all the lands owned by the State or held in 
trust for any of its public institutions. 

UNAPPROPRIATED PUBLIC DOMAIN. 

There are about 5,000,000 acres of unappropriated public domain belong- 
ing to the State. This land may be acquired by the provisions of the law re- 
lating to homestead donations. 

HOMESTEAD DONATIONS. 

How AcQtriEED. — Every head of a family without a homestead shall be 
entitled to receive a donation from the State of 160 acres of vacant, unap- 
propriated public land, and every single man of the age of 18 years or up- 
wards shall be entitled to receive from the State 80 acres of vacant and un- 
appropriated public land. The applicant must apply to the surveyor of the 
district or county in which the land is situated, in writing, designating the 
land he claims, stating that he claims the same for himself in good faith, 
etc., that he is without any homestead of his own, that he has actually 
settled on the land, etc., and that he believes the same to be vacant and 
unappropriated public domain. The survey to be made within twelve 
months after date of application. When the terms of the law have been 
complied with, and proof of such fact, together with the proof of thiee years' 
continuous occupancy, is filed with the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, patent will issue to the claimant or his assignee. (Title LXXIX, ch. 
9, Revised Statutes.) 



42 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

APPROPRIATED PUBLIC LANDS OP NOT MORE THAN 640 ACRES 
IN ORGANIZED COUNTIES. 

How Acquired. — By virtue of an act passed March 39, 1887, and 
amended April 5, 1889, "To provide for the sale of siich appropriated public 
lands situated in organized counties as contain not more than 640 acres," It 
is provided thJbt any person desiring to purchase any of such appropriated 
lands situated in any of the organized counties of the State as contain not 
more than 640 acres, appropriated by an act to provide for the sale of a 
portion of the unappropriated public land, etc., approved July 14, 1879, may 
do so by causing the same to be surveyed by the surveyor of the county in 
which the land is situated. The person desiring to purchase shall make 
application in writing, describing the land by reference to surrounding sur- 
veys. The land must be surveyed within three months from date of applica- 
tion; and within sixty days after said survey the surveyor shall cei-tify, 
record, and map the same in his oflSce, and within said sixty days return the 
same to the General Land Office, together with the application. Within 
ninety days after the return to and filing in the General Land OflBce the 
applicant miTst pay into the State Treasury the purchase money at the rate 
of two dollars per acre; patent to be issued by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office when the Treasurer's refceipt is filed in his office. 
Failure to make the payment within ninety days forfeits the right to pur- 
chase, and the applicant cannot afterward purchase under the act. 
(Chapter 80, Acts of Twentieth Legislature, pp. 61 and 63.) 

COMMON-SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY, AND ASYLUM LANDS. 

The act of April 1, 1887, and the act amendatory thereof of April 8, 1889, 
provide for the sale of all lands heretofore or hereafter surveyed and set 
apart for the benefit of the public free schools, the university, and the sev- 
eral asylums, amounting in all to about 30,000,000 acres. 

Classification. — All lands under this head must be classified by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office into agricurtural, pasture, and 
timber lands, and valued according to classification before being placed on 
the market. When classified and valued, the Land Commissioner is required 
to notify the county clerks of the counties where the lands are situated, of 
the value of each section of land offered for sale in their respective counties 
and counties attached for judicial purposes, which notification said clerks 
must keep on record for public inspection. 

To Whom and in What Quantities Sold. — Lands classified as agricult- 
ural are sold to actual settlers only, in quantities of not less than 80, and in 
multiples thereof, not more than 640 acres, provided that where there is a 
'raction of less than 80 acres of any section left, such fraction may be sold. 
Where two quarter sections are purchased they must constitute a given half 
of some section. Lands classified as purely pasture lands and without per- 
manent water thereon may be sold in quantities not to exceed four sections 
to the same person. Parts of two sections cannot be purchased without 
taking the whole of one section. No sales arie made to a corporation, foreign 



THE ^EXAS PANHANDLE. 43 

or domestic, and all sales to a settler are made on express condition that any 
sale, transfer, or conveyance of such land to a corporation, either immedi- 
ate or remote, shall ipso facto terminate the title of the purchaser and for- 
feit the land to the State. No watered portion of any section shall be sold 
unless there is permanent water on or bordering on the part of section 
remaining unsold. 

Minimum Price op Land. — The minimum price of lands sold under 
this act is $3 per acre. Lands having permanent water thereon or bordor- 
ing thereon are sold at not less than $3 per acre. Timbered lands are suld 
at not less than $5 per acre. By timbered lands is meant lands chiefly 
valuable for the timber thereon. The timber on such lands may also be 
sold at the discretion of the Commissioner of the General Land Office for $5 
per acre cash, except jwhere land is sparsely timbered, then for not less 
than $2 per acre, ihe purchaser to have five years from the date of purchase 
to remove the timber therefrom, after which, If not removed. It reverts to 
the State without judicial ascertainment. 

Terms of Sale. — Agricultural and pasture lands are sold on 40 years' 
time at 5 per cent per annum interest. One-fortieth of the aggregate pur- 
chase money must be paid in advance, and an obligation duly executed, 
binding the purchaser to pay to the State Treasurer, on the first day of 
August each year thereafter, until the whole is paid, one-fortieth of the 
purchase money and the interest on the whole of the unpaid purchase 
money. Within one year next after the expiration of three years' residence on 
the land the purchaser must make proof by his own affidavit, corroborated 
by the affidavits of three disinterested and crofQlble citizens of the county, 
certified to by some officer of the court, that he has resided on the land 
three years. Upon receipt of the fortieth payment by the Treasurer, and 
the affidavit and obligation required to be filed with the application for the 
land, the sale is held effective. 

All purchasers have the option of paying in full after they have resided 
on their lands three consecutive years, proof of which must be furnished the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office. Purchasers may sell their lands 
any time after three years, the vendee or subsequent vendees to become sub- 
ject to all the conditions of sale to the original purchaser. 

If the Interest due on the first day of August of any year is unpaid, the 
purchaser shall have until the first clay of January thereafter to pay said 
interest, and for said default shaM pay fifty per cent penalty on said inter- 
est past due. Failure to pay said past due interest and penalty on or before 
the said first day of January of any year, works a forfeiture of the land without 
the necessity of re-entry or judicial ascertainment, except where the pur- 
chaser dies, in which event his heirs have one year after the first day of 
August next after such death in which to make payment. 

Timbered lands are sold for cash. 

Applications for Land. — All applications for the purchase of land 
must be forwarded to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, at 
Austin, accompanied by an affidavit stating in effect that the applicant 
jiesii'es the land for a home, and has in good faith settled thereon, that he 



44 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

is not acting in collusion with others, for the purpose of buying the land for 
any other person or corporation, and that no other person or corporation is 
interested in the purchase save himself 

Leases. — The Commissioner of the Land OfiSce may, at his discretion, 
lease any of the public lands not in demand for actual settlement, for a 
period of not over five years, at four cents per acre per annum in advance. 

Applications to Lease. — Applications to lease shall be made in writ- 
ing to the Commissioner of the Land Office, and shall specify and describe 
the land desired. If satisfied that it is not detrimental to the public 
interest, the Commissioner may execute under his hand and seal, and deliver 
to the lessee, a lease for the time agreed upon of any land applied for. 

Conditions of Lease. — Grazing lands are not subject to sale during 
the term of the lease. Lands classified as agricultural shall be leased 
subject to sale, the lessee to give immediate possession when such lands are 
sold, and allowed a jw'o rata credit upon his next year's rent, or the money 
refunded to him by the Treasurer, as he may elect; provided that no such 
sale shall be effected of a section where the lessee has placed improvements 
of the value of $100 thereon; and, provided further, that no actual settler 
purchasing land within a leasehold shall be permitted to turn loose therein 
more than one head of cattle or horses for every ten acres of land pur- 
chased by him and enclosed, or in lieu thereof four head of sheep or goats. 
Each violation of this proviso subjects the violator to a fine of one dollar 
for each head of stock so turned loose, and each thirty days' violation con- 
stitutes a separate offense. 

Failure to pay the annuahrent due for any year within sixty days after 
the same shall have become due, subjects the lessee to forfeiture at the 
discretion of the Land Commissioner. The State retains a lien upon all 
improvements on leased land to secure payment of rents. Leaseholds are 
exempt from taxation. 

Unlawful, Use. — It is unlawful for any person to fence, use, occupy, 
or appropriate by herding, line-riding, or other means, any portion of the 
public lands, and the Attorney-General is authorized to bring suit for the 
recovery of such land, and damages for its use and occupation, and such 
suits may be brought in the District Court of Travis county. 

Gateways. — Fences on grazing lands must not be constructed for more 
than three miles lineal measure running in the same general direction, with- 
out a gateway in the same. 

Issuance of Patents, Fees, Etc. — Patents to lands are issued by the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office when the receipt of the State 
Treasurer (to whom all payments are made) for all payments due on the 
land is presented at the Land Office and the patent fees thereon paid. 

Patent Fees are as Follows: — 

320 acres of land or less $5 CO 

Over 320 acres of land and up to 640 acres 6 00 

Over 640 and up to 1,280 acres 10 00 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



45 



Over 1,280 acres and up to one-third of a league $12 50 

Over one-third of a league and up to one league and labor 15 00 

One league and labor : 20 00 

Each set of field notes filed fbr less than one league and labor 1 00 

Each set of field notes filed for more than one league and labor 2 00 

Location of School Lands. — The number of acres of school lands 
located in each county is given in connection with the statistics of the coun- 
ties, and represenis the amount of unsold public school land in the county 
July 4, 1888. 

County School Lands. — Four leagues of school land have been set apart 
for each county in the State, to be used for educational purposes. Said 
lands aije in the control of the commissioners' courts of the several counties, 
to whom purchasers should apply. Many counties have already leased or 
sold their lands. 

Blank Applications to Purchase or Lease Lands. — Any person 
desiring to purchase or lease public lands can procure blank applications 
suitable for each class of land for sale or lease by applying to the Commis- 
sioner of the General Land Office at Austin. 

Spanish Land Measurement. — Divisions of land in this State are made 
according to Spanish land measurement, by varas, labors, and leagues, and 
distances are given in linear varas. 

1 vara 33X inches. 

1 acre 5,646 square varas=4,840 square yards. 

1 labor 1,000,000 square varas=177 acres. 

X league 8,333,333 square varas=l,476 acres. 

1 league 25,000,000 square varas=4,428 acres. 

1 league and labor, 26,000,000 square varas=4,605 acres. 
To find the number of acres in a given number of square varas, divide 
by 5,646. 

There remain unsold of school lands in the State 981,760 acres, and 
of university lands unsold 2,098,578 acres. 

The following is a list of unsold common school lands in some of the 
Panhandle counties: — 



Armstrong 239,797 

Archer 64,160 

Baylor 58,160 

Briscoe 839,967 

Crosby 140.480 

Castro 190,720 

Childress 220,640 

Collingsworth 286,080 

Cattle 118,080 

Clay 480 

Dallam 171,726 

Deaf Smith 260,480 

Douley 228,450 

Floyd 299,520 

Gray 174,400 

Hartley 170,880 

Hardeman 250,560 

Hale 297,600 

Handsford 271,360 

Hall 257,400 



Jack 22,597 

Knox 96,960 

Labbock 2:33,560 

Lamb 22,440 

Moore 284,480 

Motley 285,120 

Montague 4,979 

Oldham 156,160 

Ochiltree ._,. 256,680 

Potter 253,280 

Randall 233,600 

Swisher 282,560 

Sherman 296,160 

Stephens 29,340 

Tarrant 166 

Wilbarger 1.58,744 

Wheeler 201,120 

Wichita 28,821 

Wise 1,186 



THE TEXAS PANIIANULK. 



RAILWAYS. 

When we come to speak of the benefits derived from railways, there is 
but one road to name in so far as the Panhandle country is concerned. The 
Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth was the pioneer road through this region, the, 
first and best friend to the country. The completion of the road made 
possible the settlement of the Panhandle; and* the railway has In a lai'ge 
sense wrested those beautiful Staked Plains from under the dominion of the 
cow-boy, and transformed them into as grand a wheat district as can be 
found anywhere in the world. There is no second opinion among Tex- 
ans as to the great and lasting good accomplished by this pioneer railway. 
In 1890 the Union Pacific leased the line for a term of years. From Henri- 
etta a branch will be completed through the rich and fertile counties of Clay, 
Archer, Baylor, and Knox, terminating at Benjamin, in Knox county. 
Archer, Seymour, and other rising towns and villages are on this branch. 

In the annual report of the condition of the Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth 
Railroad made by the directors in October, 1889, the following paragraph 
occurs: — 

"In October, 1887, there were but few farms north of Wichita Falls, 
and shipments of farm products from north of that point were not known; 
but after the line was opened, the country was taken up so rapidly that we 
shipped of the crop of 1888, from points in the territory mentioned, about 
150,000 bushels of grain, and have and will ship of the crop of 1889, more 
than 500,000 bushels; and from the acreage sown and from the present indi- 
cations, the crop of 1890 will be increased more than 200 per cent over that 
Df the present year. The Panhandle is the most productive small grain 
portion of the State, and second to none in the United States, as will be 
seen by the fact that in 1888, it averaged 21>^ bushels of wheat, and for the 
year 1889, 25 bushels of wheat, per acre; and in each year the result was 
from sod land to a very great extent, and from sod altogether in 1888." 

As the railway is the all-important factor in opening up and developing 
a new country, so its traffic statistics are valuable as illustr£>,ting the growth 
of the new region, and upon these returns may be predicated an opinion as 
to the value of the virgin territory acquired. Bearing in mind the para- 
graph quoted above, and remembering fux'ther that the line was completed 
in March, 1888, note the following live stock shipments for year ending 

October 31, 1889:— 

No. Cars. No. Head. 

North bound 6,623 198,335 

South bound 5,781 163,555 

Total 12,404 361,890 

TOTAL STOCK SHIPMENTS. 





Cars. 


Cattle. 


Horses. 


Sheep. 


Hogs. 


Total. 


1888 

1889 


7,295 
12,404 


192,318 
337,571 


2,858 
4,942 


14,294 
17,878 


149 
1,499 


209.619 

361,890 


Increase, 1889 


5,109 


145,253 


2,084 


3,584 


1,350 


152,871 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



47 



The statement which follows shows the amount of freight in pounds 
forwarded and received for the year ending November 1, 1889. It is inter- 
esting to examine the commerce of these towns, remembering as we must 
that many of them were not in existence three or four years ago. This 
report embraces the towns in Texas only on the line of the Denver, Texas 
& Ft. Worth Division of the Union Pacific System. 



STATIONS. 



Fort Worth.... 

Hodge 

Saginaw 

Calef 

Khorae ..« 

Kirkland 

Detatur 

Alvord 

Sunset 

Bowie 

Bellevue 

Henrietta 

Wichita Falls. 

Iowa Park 

Rutherford .... 

Harrold 

Oklaunion 

Vernon 

Wheatland .... 
Chillicothe .... 

Jivans 

Quanah 

Childress 



612,692 
655,008 
933,009 



4,839,856 



317,742 
940,291 
857,144 
022,441 
731,675 
559,996 
017,237 
569,650 
446,638 
444,985 



,237,551 
',164,375 



753,891 
092,281 



259,154,748 

2,726,548 

3,915,253 

27,000 

4,841,073 

400 

15,880,991 

4,959,578 

4,742,717 

11,438,991 

4,458,695 

12,592,394 

23,525,989 

3,622,345 

2,440,241 

6,153,532 

115,210 

42,034,537 



3,171,306 

474 

13,698,474 

9,252,608 



STATIONS. 



Salisbury.... 

Giles 

Clarendon , 
Goodnight.. 

Claude 

Washburn .. 
Panhandle 

Pullman 

Aniarillo .... 

Field 

Ady 

Newlin 

Tascosa 

Cheyenne .. 

Rivers 

Duncan 

Hartley 

Twist." 

Matlock 

Farwell , 

Texliue 

Beaver 

Frederick.... 



Freight 

Forwarded, 

Pounds. 



73,318 

741,160 

4,886,508 

32,976 

80,290 

377,204 

6,072,183 

36,868 

5,061,106 



1,144,770 
859,738 



169,470 



81,040 
2.59,214,760 



Freight 
Received, 
Pounds. 



2.?S^),'.I.V, 
l,^;:n (.:7 
ll,2ir,.v.;i 
814,508 
1,436,049 
2,777,094 
9,719,936 



14,407,677 
20,000 



1,987 
4,742,714 
1,551,668 

2,810 



371,780 



3,230 

505,194 

430,612,692 

20,400 

116,296' 



rpf-f j,i„ f No. Tons. 

^°^*^'^ "-• ■• 1 No. Pounds. 

Same 12 Months Last Year 0o- pg^nds. 

Increase i ^'*5- Tons. 

'■^'^•■^^^^ I No. Pounds. 



414,264 
828,528,527 

847,624 
695,247,495 
66,641 
133,281,032 



414,264 
828,528,527 

349,624 

695,247,495 

06,641 

133,281,032 



COMPARATIVE GRAIN STATEMENT FROM JULY 1st, TO DECEMBER 31ST, 1890-91. 



STATIONS. 


Cars, 
1891. 


Cars, 
1S90. 


lu- 
cre 'sp 


De- 
cre'se 


1 STATIONS. 


Cars, 
1891. 


Cars, 
IS90. 


In- 

cre'se 


De- 
cre'se 




63 
12 
1 

7 




63 
11 






141 
1,328 
292 
478 
177 


26 
258 
76 
84 
35 
1 


115 
1,070 
210 
389 
142 




Decatur 


1 

10 
4 

1 








Alvord 


9 

i" 


1 Chillicothe 






3 






Bowie 






Bellevue 


3 
50 
352 
344 
.20 
376 


3 

50 
289 
384 

14 
263 


Salisbury 


1 










25 


25 




Wichita Falls 


63 

60 

6 

113 




Giles 




















Rutherford * 




Total 










Harrold 




3,664 


738 


2,937 


11 











* Closed December 20th. 

FLOUR SHIPMENTS. 

Statement showing the flour shipments from points on this line, from 
July Ist, to December 81st, inclusive, 1890 and 1891. ' 

MILLING POINTS. ' 1890. 1891. Increase. 

Fort Worth 1,658,433 2,264,530 600,097 

Wichita Falls 594,600 10,639,175 10,044,575 

Iowa Park 164,765 164,7f)5 

Vernon 1,190,254 2,648,377 1,458,123 

Quanah .-. : ;...;,...;...;.;;;.. 28,500 461.380 432 ,880 

Total ;..>........; ..:. 3,471,787 16,178,227 12,706,440 



48 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

PUBLIC EDUCATION. 
(From the report of the Commissioner of Education.) 

FREE SCHOOLS. 

Under this topic are included: — 

1. The Common-School System. 

2. The Normal Schools. 

3. The University of Texas. 

The Common-School System embraces: (1.) Rural Schools, (3.) Independ- 
ent School Districts (cities and towns). 

Theruralschoolsareorganizedin two ways: (a) Districts, (b) Communities. 

The districts are formed by the commissioners' courts, have geographical 
boundaries, and may vote a levy of local school tax not exceeding two mills. 
One hundred and five counties are thus districted, and about three per cent 
of the districts levy local taxes. 

In 87 counties the schools are operated on a peculiar plan called the 
" community system." The community has no geographical boundaries, and 
enrollment on the community list is a matter of local enterprise. Local 
taxes can be levied in community counties, but the plan is cumbrous and 
rather inefficient. 

The cities and towns of the State may be constituted independent dis- 
tricts on a majority vote of the people of the municipality. Independent 
districts may vote a levy of local school tax not exceeding five mills. These 
districts are independent of the county school officers, and receive the State 
apportionment direct. 

THE STATE ENDOWMENT 

Of the common schools is large. About $7,000,000 in interest-bearing bonds, 
more than $10,000,000 in interest-bearing land notes, and about 28,000,000 
acres of unsold lands, constitute the State endowment. Of the unsold 
-school lands 7,000,000 acres are leased at 4 cents per acre, and the funds thus 
derived added to the annual available school fund. 

Besides the State endowment fund, each county has been granted by the 
State four leagues of land, which constitute county endowment. As these 
lands are sold, the funds received are invested under the authority of the 
county commissioners' court, and the interest on the investment is applied 
annually to the support of the schools. A considerable portion of these 
lands is leased for varying terms of years, and the rental applied as the 
rental of the State school lands. These lands are under the exclusive con- 
trol of the county authorities. Seven hundred and sixty-eight leagues have 
been thus granted to counties, and a reservation has been made from the 
public domain for the unorganized counties. 

In addition to the Interest on bonds and land notes and rental from 
leases, the State levies an annual ad valorem school tax of one and one- 
quai'ter mills, devotes one-fourth of the occupation taxes and an annual poll 
tax of $1 to the available school fund. The entire amount of available 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 49 

apportioned school fund for the year 1888-9, was $3,112,440, and the total 
receipts by local treasurers, including balances from the previous year, were 
$3,308,000. The disbursements for the same year amounted to $2,776,000. 

SAM HOUSTON STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

Jn 1879 the Normal school was established by the State of Texas for the 
purpose of training competent teachers for the public schools. Regarding 
the Normal school as the lieart of the public school system, it was decided 
to name the proposed institution the "Sam Houston Normal Institute," in 
honor of the hero of Texas independence. Houston had spent the evening 
of his eventful life in Huntsville. Here was his neglected grave. As an 
everlasting monument to the honored dead the Normal school was located 
at Huntsville. On the first of October, 1879, the Institute opened. The 
school is strictly professional, and its aim is to qualify teachers in the best 
possible manner for the work of the school room. No effort has been made 
to secure large numbers, but rather the best material for making efficient 
teachers. None are admitted under seventeen years of age, or who do not 
possess a good knowledge of the common branches. All students sign a 
pledge to teach in the public schools of the State. 

The standard for admission has been steadily raised as the educational 
agencies of the State have become more efScient. The aim is to make this 
strictly a professional school for preparing trained teachers for llie public 
schools of Texas. Academic instruction is given only as far as it is absolutely 
necessary, and this necessity steadily diminishes from year to year, as the 
public schools, high schools, and colleges of the State become more thorough 
in their instruction. The new building will be a model school building, 
with all the modern appliances, and will furnish ample accommodations for 
500 students. This institution is under control of the State Board of Edu- 
cation, composed of the Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, and 
Secretary of State, who appoint a local board for its immediate supervision. 

PRAIRIE VIEW STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

This institution is located six miles east of Hempstead, in Waller county. 
It is a branch of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, and 
under the government of the Board of Directors of that school. Originally 
it was designed for an industrial school, but the lack of education among 
the colored people of the State, and the pressing need of trained teachers for 
the colored schools, led to a change of object, and it was therefore converted 
into a normal school for training colored teachers. The constant and 
steadily increasing patronage it has since received, is the best evidence of 
the wisdom of the change — the session of 1887-88 having the largest attend- 
ance and being the most prosperous in the history of the institution. 

Since its establishment, 757 teachers have received more or less profes- 
sional training, and a large number of them are occupying influential and 
profitable positions in the public free schools of the State. The teachers 



50 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

are all colored people^ who have thus tar governed the school with credit to 
themselves and to the entire satisfaction of the Board of Directors. The 
Institution is supported by direct appropriations from the general revenues 
of the State, and one State student from each senatorial district and fifteen 
from the State at large are admitted and taught free of charge 

» 
AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS. 

The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was foi'mally opened 
'or the reception of students October 4, 1876. The Constitution of Texas 
provides that taxes may be raised for the maintenance and support of the 
college. It is situated at College Station in the county of Brazos, five miles 
south of Bryan, and ninety-five miles northwest of Houston. Its govern- 
ment is vested in a Board of Directors, consisting of five members appointed 
by the Governor of the State. They are " selected from different sections of 
the State, and hold office for six years, or during good behavior, and until 
their successors are qualified." 

In November, 1866, the Legislature formally accepted from Congress the 
gift of 180,000 acres orpublic l,and for the endowment of an agricultural 
and mechanical college. This land v/as sold for $174,000, which sum was 
invested in 7 per cent State bonds. As under the act of Congress neither 
principal nor interest of this money could be used for other purposes than 
the payment of oificers' salai'ies, at the time of the opening of the college 
there was an addition to the fund, from accumulated interest, of $35,000. 
This was invested in 6 per cent bonds of the State, thus furnishing an 
annual income of $14,280. The county of Brazos also donated to the college 
2,416 acres of land lying on each side of the Houston and Texas Central 
Railroad. 

OBJECTS AND PRESENT POLICY. 

The act of Congress which established the State Agricultural and 
Mechanical Colleges defines their objects. But under that act there have been 
founded as many different schools as there are States. These Institutions 
have presented a variety of educational schemes which have embraced nearly 
all gradations from the classical and mathematical college to the manual 
labor industrial school. In view of this fact it is proper to state as definitely 
as possible the interpretation given to the act of Congress by the authorities 
of this college, and the manner in which they are endeavoring to carry out 
its provisions. 

The general object of this college is to excite and foster in the minds 
of the people an enthusiastic appreciation of the attractiveness and value of 
those pursuits by which the material development of the country is advanced. 
It Is the business of this college to turn the attention of our young men from 
the over-crowded " learned professions '' to those occupations which have 
brought abundant wealth and power to other States, and which are begin- 
hing now to attract and well rcoay the services of trained young men 
lil Texas. 

These objects arc sought to be attained: — 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. SI 

(1.) A thorough course of instruction in mathematics and natural 
science, with continual application of principles to work in the shops, fields, 
gardens, vineyard, orchard, pastures, dairies, and other laboratories. 

(3.) By relying upon text-books as little as possible, to lead the 
students to seek information directly from observation and experiment. 

(3.) To inculcate the dignity of intelligent labor — banishing the idea 
that the farmer or mechanic who is worthy of the name need be any less 
learned than the professional man. 

(4.) To induce in the mind of the student an enthusiastic love of 
nature and the study of natural laws, whereby agricultural and mechanical 
processes become invested with absorbing interest, and are pursued in a 
spirit which leads to progress and success. 

To enter the college an applicant must be in his sixteenth year, or at 
least must have attained a degree of physical and mental advancement cor- 
responding to that age. He must be free from contagious or infectious dis- 
ease, or any deformity that would unfit him 'for the performance of his 
duties as a student of this cellege. He may be required to furnish evidence 
that he has not been dismissed from another institution of learning, and 
that his moral character is good 

The mental attainments necessary for ejitering upon the courses of study 
comprise a fair knowledge of arithmetic as far as proportion, of descriptive 
geography, and of elementary English grammar and cbraposition. 

The regular courses of study lead to the degrees of Bachelor of Scientific 
Agi-iculture, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Bachelor of Civil Engi- 
neering, and Bachelor of Scientific Horticulture. 

Thorough instruction, theoretical and practical, is given in the depart- 
ments of Mathematics, Agf iculture, Mechanics, Civil Engineering, Horti- 
culture, Chemistry, English, Veterinary Science, and Drawing; courses in 
Modern Languages; special short courses in Agriculture, Horticulture, 
Dairying, Carpentry, Blacksmithing, Machinery, Chemistry, Drawing, and 
Surveying. 

Total expenses for session (exclusive of books and clothing), S140. 

AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION OF THE AGRICULT^ 

URAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS, 

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS. 

In 1887 Congress made provision for establishing, equipping, and sup- 
porting Agricultui'al Experiment Stations in the several States, the stations 
to be placed under the supervision of the Boards of Directors of the State 
Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, where such colleges have been estab- 
lished. 

The act of Congress appropriates .^15,000 per annum from the United States 
Treasury, to each State, to equip and support the stations. Owing to some 
technical defect in the bill as passed, additional legislation was required to 
make the fund available. By recent enactment the appropriation is placed 
at the disposal of the several States, and the stations are being organized. 



53 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

The purpose for which the Agricultural Experiment Station Bill was 
passed, is clearly set forth in section 2 of the Act, which reads as follows: — 

" It shall be the object and duty of said Experiment Stations to conduct 
original researches or verify experiments on the physiology of plants and 
animals; the diseases to which they are sev-erally subject, with the remedies 
for the same; the chemical composition of useful plants at their different 
stages of growth; the comparative advantages of rotative cropping as fur- 
nished under a varying series of crops; the capacity of new plants or trees 
for acclimation; the analysis of soils and water; the chemical composition 
of manures, natural or artificial, with experiments designed to test their 
comparative effect on crops of differeiTt kinds; the adaptation and value of 
grasses and forage plants; the composition and digestibility of the different 
kinds of food for domestic animals; the scientific and economic questions 
involved in the production of butter and cheese; and such other researches 
or experiments bearing directly on the agricultural industry of the United 
States as may in each case be deemed advisable." 

The bill further provides that reports of the progress made in experi- 
ments shall be published from time to time, one copy of which shall be sent 
to each newspaper published in the State where such station is located, and 
one to each individual actually engaged in farming who may request the 
same, as far as the means of the station will permit ; all such reports to be 
carried in the mails free. 

These Experiment Stations were placed under the supervision of the 
Boards of Directors of the Agricultural and Mechanical Colleges, not for 
the purpose of assisting the colleges, but because it was thought the fund 
would be most judiciously expended under such control, and it was believed 
that a portion of the equipment of said colleges, in the way of land, stock, 
implements, etc., might, without detriment to the work of the colleges, be 
used to some extent in experimental work. It was thought also that men 
employed at the colleges, many of whom have become skilled in experimental 
work, would be able to give part of their time to the station. 

In accordance with the Act of Congress, the Board of Directors of the 
Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas have established this station, 
and have made provision for beginning the work. The station is located at 
the college, and is made a department of the college. Such part of the college 
farm, buildings, and other equipments as may be deemed necessary for experi- 
mental work will be assigned to the station department by the Board of 
Directors, who desire to make the work of the station of as much value to 
the agricultural interests of the State as may be possible. The work will 
be conducted at all times with special reference to giving information of 
value that may be of some practical use to the farmer. To enable them to 
carry out this policy, all associations having the advancement of agriculture 
in view — the Grange, Alliance, Stock-breeders, Fruit-growers, and other 
organizations — will be invited from time to time to appoint delegates to 
meet with the Board of Directors and the Council, and consult and advise 
with them in regard to the work of the station. Suggestions will be gladly 
received at all times from any one who is interested in advancing the agri- 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 53 

cultural interests of the State Following is a list of the most important 
investigations so far undertaken by the station: — 

A study of the disease of the cotton plant known as " blight," or " root 
rot," and experiments to find a preventive for the same; jointly with the 
Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, a study of the cattle disease- 
Texas fever — to determine how the disease is transmitted, what parts of 
the State are free from it, and experiments in disinfecting to prevent cattle 
from spreading the disease when Texas cattle are shipped north, and inocu- 
lating cattle to protect from the disease when brought into the State; testing 
different fertilizers; growing a variety of forage plants, including silage 
crops; fattening cattle on different rations to determine the most economical 
method of feeding; testing a variety of food stuffs for the production of 
butter; testing tile drains on land used for growing farm, fruit, and vege- 
table crops; testing a variety of grasses, fruits, and vegetables; operating a 
creamery for investigation in dairy work. 

Bulletins are published from time to time, giving in detail the work of the 
station, and sent free to any applicant in the State. 

Information in regard to construction of silos, farm buildings, creameries, 
with plans for the same, and list of machinery and estimates as to cost, will 
be supplied upon request. 

STATE UNIVERSITY. 

The University of Texas owes its existence to the wisdom, foresight, and 
statesmanship of the founders of the Republic of Texas, who made the most 
ample provision for its establishment and maintenance in the legislation of 
that period. By an act of the Third Congress fifty leagues of land were set 
apart as an endowment for the University. The Legislature of Texas, by 
an act approved February 11, 1858, added to this S100,000 in United States 
bonds, then in the State Treasury, and every tenth section of land granted 
or that might be thereafter granted to railroads or the Brazos and Galveston 
Navigation Company, which was to be used as an endowment and for the pur- 
pose of putting the University into operation. This act was, however, never 
carried out, doubtless on account of the intervention of the civil war. The 
Constitution of 1876 reappropriated all grants before made, except the one- 
tenth section, and in lieu thereof set apart 1,000,000 acres of the unappro- 
priated public domain- for the University. 

The Legislature, by an act approved March 30, 1881, provided for the 
location, organization, and government of the University of Texas, and in 
obedience to that act an election was held the first Tuesday in September, 
1881, to determine where the institution should be located, resulting in favor 
of Austin, the capital of the State. 

The buildings are situated about three-quarters of mile north of the 
State Capitol, on an imposing site in the center of a forty-acre tract of land 
set apart by the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas for that purpose, 
and were opened for tlie reception of students September 15, 1883. Thus 
was the long-cherished desire of the fathers of Texas, and the wishes of the 
people as often expressed in the various State Constitutions, at last 
attained. 



54 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

The University is governed by a Board of Regents composed of eight 
citizens, residents of different sections of the State, who are appointed by 
the Governor, and confirmed by the Senate. By an act of the Legislature 
approved April 10, 1883, 1,000,000 acres of the public debt land were added 
to the permanent University fund. Of the various land grants riiade to the 
University there now remain unsold 2,032,978 acres. 

The graduates of approved high schools will be admitted to the Univer- 
sity without examination, provided they have reached the required age, and 
provided they present themselves for admission at the beginning of the 
scholastic year next succeeding their graduation from the high school. If, 
however, a graduate of an approved high school is not sixteen at this time, 
he will be allowed to enter when he attains this age. 

The session begins the fourth Wednesday in September, and closes on 
the third Wednesday in June, and is divided into two terms. 

Co-education is a feature of this institution. Young women have equal 
advantages with the young men, and the course of study is the same for 
both. Tuition in the University is free to all residents of the State. 

BLIND ASYLUM. 

The State Asylum for the Blind was establisliwi September 2, 1856, and 
has for its object the education of blind persons. It is not an asylum 
where the indigent and helpless are cared for at the public expense, but a 
school in which the blind receive such general education amd training in 
industrial pursuits as will aid them to become self-supporting. When the 
course of study prescribed has been completed, the pupils return to their 
homes, as do the pupils of other schools, and, like them, are no longer a 
charge upon the State. In short, the only difference between the school 
for the blind and a public school is in the amount of money the State 
expends on them. Sighted persons only receive free tuition, while the 
blind are fed, clothed and transported to and from school at public 
expense. 

The course of study is as follows: — 

Reading by Touch in Point and Line Print, Writing in New York Point, 
Arithmetic, Mathematical and Physical Geography, English Grammar, 
Etymology, Elements of Ancient and Modern History, Natural Philoso- 
phy, English Literature, Elements of Chemistry, Physiology and Hygiene. 

Of the trades, piano-forte tuning, broom making, aad upholstering are 
taught to the young men 

The young ladies receive Instruction In crocheting and bead work, and 
learn to sew by hand and machine. 

The young men excel sighted persons as piano tuners, and become very 
proficient at making brooms, mattresses, pillows, and bottoming chairs with 
cane and rattan. The bead work and crocheting done by the young ladies 
would reflect credit on sighted persons. The physical development of 
pupils is promoted by regular daily exercises in calisthenics, with dumb-bells, 
Indian clubs, and rings. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 55 

Pupils whose sight can be benefited by operating on their eyes receive 
treatment from a skilled oculist connected with the institution. About 
twenty-three persons have in this way been 'restored to sight within the 
last twelve years. 

All blind persons, or persons who cantibt see to read ordinary newspaper 
pi'int, between eight andtwenty years of age, will bo admitted to the institu- 
tion. The school is located in Austin, and in number of teachers, size of the 
buildings, the amount of philosophical, chemical, and astronomical appara- 
tus, maps, globes, and appliances for the school room, variety of musical 
instruments, etc., is the largest in the South. Number of pupils enrolled 
during 1888, 138. 

DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM. 

The State Deaf and Dumb Asylum is situated at the State Capital, on a 
commanding height south of the Colorado River, and is justly regarded as 
one of the most beautiful and healthful locations in the city. During the 
session of 1888-89 196 pupils were enrolled, and were in actual attendance. 
The health of the institution has been exceptionally good, and only one 
death occurred during the year. 

It is the purpose of the State in establishing such institutions to give to 
the students a practical education, and as far as possible rescue this unfor- 
tunate class from helplessness and dependence. In addition, therefore, to 
the instruction usual in such schools, a printing office, book-bindery and 
shoe shop have been established for the purpose of teaching those trades to 
such of the pupils as have the ability and inclination to learn them. Skilled 
workmen, experts in their business, are in charge of each of these depart- 
ments, and the progress made by the students under them has thus far been 
very encouraging. An art department was inaugurated October 5, 1887, 
and is now one of the most interesting and attractive features of the school. 
Some of the pupils acquired such skill in crayon work before the end of the 
session that they were offered profitable employment at work of that kind 
during vacation. 

The conditions of admission to the institution are few and simple. The 
age at which pupils are received, and the length of time they are kept, are 
matters left to the discretion of the superintendent. Persons not suscepti- 
ble of receiving instruction will not be received at all. Parents are required, 
to furnish transportation if able to do so, otherwise it will be provided by 
the State. 

The school opens the first Wednesday in September, and closes the first 
Wednesday in June, of each year. Pupils are required to return to their 
homes during vacation to give opportunity to renovate and repair the 
buildings. 

DEAF AND DUMB AND BLIND INSTITUTE FOR COLORED YOUTH. 

The Deaf and Dumb and Blind Asylum for Colored Youth was estab- 
lished by an act of the Twentieth Legislature, which provided for the 
appointment of a board to select a site neat the city of Austin, and appro 



56 THE TEXAS PANHANDLBi 

priated $50,000 for the erection of buildings and the purchase of furniture. 
An admirable location, about two and a quarter miles northwest of Austin, 
was selected for the buildings, and the institution first opened for the recep- 
tion of students October 1, 1887. On December 31. 1889, the attendance had 
reached sixty, twenty-five of whom were blind, and thirty-five deaf and 
dumb, children. 

The same general rules of government and conditions of admission in 
force at the institutions for the blind and deaf and dumb for the whites, 
obtain in this institution. The text-books and system of instruction are 
also the same. 

STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM. 

The State Lunatic Asylum is situated about two miles north of Austin, 
on a beautiful plateau of ground adorned and beautified by flowers, plants, 
summer-houses, and forest trees, the latter constituting a splendid park, 
upon whose grassy lawn the patients are permitted to take exercise and 
get fresh'air and sunshine. The buildings are capacious and elegant, though 
somewhat crowded owing to the rapidity with which the insane population 
Increases. 

In connection with the institution there is a large farm and garden where 
patients are permitted to work with a view of diverting the mind and 
affording exercise for the body. For the same purpose concerts, music, 
dancing, and other amusements are indulged in once a week. Most patients 
enjoy the farm work very much, and look forward with great interest to 
the return of the day appointed for the weekly entertainment. In this way 
their minds are pleasantly occupied with new subjects, and in many cases 
ultimate recovery is thereby made possible. 

NORTH TEXAS HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. 

This institution is located at Terrell, in Kaufman county, and was first 
opened for the reception of patients July 15, 1885. It was established in 
obedience to a general demand for additional asylum room for the accom- 
modation of the hundreds of insane persons then confined in jails and on 
poor farms throughout the State. The buildings are constructed on the 
latest and most improved plan of hospitals for the insane, and contain all 
modern conveniences for the treatment of the insane. 

STATE ORPHAN ASYLUM. 

The creation of an Orphan Asylum was contemplated and provided for 
by the founders of the State government, who gave it the same land endow- 
ments bestowed on other charitable institutions. The establishment of 
this institution was required by an act of the Twentieth Legislature, ap- 
proved April 4, 1887. The Governor was required to appoint three commis- 
sioners to select a site for the asylum. Competition between the various 
towns in the State for the location of the institution was invited, which 
resulted in the selection of Corsicana, in Navarro county. The site on 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 57 

which the asylum is located and the surrounding scenery are unsurpassed 
by any place in the State for their beauty and adaptibility for such an insti- 
tution. The buildings, which are constructed on the cottage plan, and 
have a capacity of about 200 inmates, were completed and the institution 
formally opened July 15, 1889. Up to September 30, twenty orphan chil- 
dren had been received, and a considerable increase in that number was 
expected during the fall months. 

The asylum is governed by a board of managers, who are appointed by 
the Governor, and have power to prescribe rules and regulations for the 
admission of inmates, and control of the institution. All orphan children 
under the age of 14 years shall be admitted, subject only to such restrictions 
as the board deem necessary to the welfare and good government of the 
asylum. The superintendent is required to keep a list of the names and 
ages of all children, with such data as may be obtainable concerning their 
history, subject at all times to public inspection. He is also required to see 
that their pro rata of the public school fund is set aside, and to provide 
them with proper educational facilities. 

STATE HOUSE OF COREECTION AND REFORMATORY. 

By act of the Twentieth Legislature, approved March 29, 1887, a State 
House of Correction and Reformatory for youthful convicts was provided 
for, and the Governor required to appoint a commission to locate the same. 
The institution was located two and one-fourth miles northeast of Gates- 
ville, Coryell county, and the necessary buildings erected there during the 
past summer. 

All persons under 16 years of age convicted of any felony, the punish- 
ment for which does not exceed five years* confinement, are sentenced to the 
Reformatory. 

The trustees are required to "see that the inmates are taught habits of 
industry and sobriety, some useful trade, and to read and write, and are 
also supplied with suitable books." The white and colored inmates of the 
institution are required to be kept, worked, and educated separately. 

The Institution is conducted on the "cottage" or family plan. The 
buildings are heated by steam and lighted by electricity. Since the institu- 
tion was opened, a farm of 200 acres and a garden and orchard — about 600 
acres — have been put in cultivation. 

THE USEFUL MINERALS. 

Hon. E. T. Dumble, State Geologist, says: — 

"The mineral deposits, like many other features of Texas, are so wide- 
spread and of so diversified a character, that it is difficult even to attempt 
to describe them. The geological survey has only been in existence a year, 
and although much work has been done, scarcely an impression has been 
made on the problem before us. It has determined, however, that coal, 
limonite, hematite, and magnetic Iron ores, copper, silver, lead, cement 
materials, kaolin, potter's and fire clays, glass sands, salt, gypsum, natural 
gas, petroleum, and many varieties of building stone exist here in sufficient 



58 TUk TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

quantity to warrant their profitable woiking; but there has not yet been 
time to investigate any of these deposits in detail. This is a matter that 
will require some time, as there is much preliminary work to be done, in 
order to obtan a proper basis for investigation." 

SOME PANHANDLE COUNTIES. 

It will be impossible to give a detailed description of every county in the 
Panhandle country, or all of those lying contiguous or tributary to the Den- 
ver, Texas & Fort Worth Division of the Union Pacific System. In some 
instances these counties are very young, — barely past oi-ganization,— and 
reliable data cannot be procured this year. The statistics presented for the 
older counties are derived from official sources, and may be relied on as 
thoroughly accurate. Starting from Fort Worth, the present terminus of 
the Union Pacific System in Texas, a description will be given of those 
counties on either side of the line from Tarrant county north to the State 
line. 

TARRANT COUNTY 

Is situated in Northern Texas and joins Dallas county, which forms its 
eastern boundary. It is also bounded by Johnson county and a narrow strip 
of Ellis on the south, Parker on tne west, and Denton and Wise counties on 
the north. 

It was created in 1849 from Navarro county, and named in honor of an 
old citizen of that section. Gen. E. H. Tarrant. The county is abundantly 
watered. The Trinity River enters the county at the northwest corner, 
and, running in a southeasterly direction to about the center of the county, 
makes an abrupt turn and passes out about centrally through the eastern 
part of the county. Besides the Trinity River the county is watered by Big 
and Little Bear, Village, Rush, Deer, Denton, Henrietta, Mustang, Wal- 
nut, Indian, Sycamore, Big and Little Fossil, Mary, Silver, Maine, and Rock 
creeks and a number of smaller streams, and Hurst, Calloway, and Park lakes. 

This is a farming and stock-raising county. The soil is well adapted to 
agriculture. It varies from a red sandy to a black waxy, the latter soil 
prevailing. All the cereals grown in the best black land sections are pro- 
duced in abundance here. 

The general surface of the county is high and rolling. The water- 
courses are timbered with oak, ash, pecan, elm, and hackberry. The east- 
ern portion of the county is traversed by the belt of timber known as the 
Lower Cross Timbers. This timber consists largely of post oak, blackjack, 
and hickory. 

Fort Worth is the county seat, the popul3,tion being estimated at 23,076. 
The other principal towns in the county are : Grape Vine, population 442 ; 
Arlington, population 664; Mansfield, population 418 ; Crowley, population 
150. 

Value of Pkopebty.— The assessed value of all property in 1887, 
$11,261,838; in 1888, $12,516,021; in 1890, §18,817,816. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



59 



Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $8 to $20 per acre, unimproved 
for from $3 to $10 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county 
is $6.20 per acre. Acres State school lands in county, 6. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 8,086, with 68 
school houses, and gives employment to 146 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers: White— males $68.83, females $49.23 ; colored— males $53.75, fe- 
males $47.50. Total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 6,623, 
average attendance 1,845, and the average length of school term 157 days. 
The estimated value of school houses and grounds is $60,275, school appara- 
tus $4,800, making the total value of school property $65,075. The total tui- 
tion revenue received from the State was $32,344. 

The farmers of this county purchased during the year 153,700 pounds of 
bacon, 24,970 pounds of lard, 26,791 bushels of corn, 16,455 gallons of 
molasses. 

PKODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Product. 



Value. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bus)iels -. 

Barley, bushels 

Eye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sugar cane, barrels syrup 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasSes.. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 



22,989 

33,652 

23,865 

8,712 

153 

48 

222 

47 

4 

13 

676 

3,389 

1,642 



4,521 

630,881 

277,325 

186,879 

3,830 

397 

15,341 

5,449 

70 

105 

1,589 

3.960 

2,688 



4 
257 

48 



16 

495 

138 

2,260 



$201,706 

186,979 

153,421 

43,113 

1,885 

295 

10,794 

3,128 

95 

137 

8,435 

15,641 

15,080 



395 

8,047 

955 

18,080 



Bees.— Stands of bees 1,000; pounds of honey 30,103, value $3,170. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 1,469 ; pounds of wool clipped 4,899, 
value $1,034. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 14,719, value $445,125 ; cattle 
38,673, value $223,824 ; jacks and jennets 93, value $8,460 ; sheep 2,629, value 
$2,655 ; goats 1,874, value $1,175 ; hogs $8,870, value $14,650. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 65 cents. On December 31, 1889, there was a balance in the county 
treasury of $17,307.86. The indebtedness on December 31, 1889 : Outstand- 
ing court house bonds $6,000, jail bonds $75,000, road and bridge bonds 
$65,365; total bonded indebtedness $146,365. Total county indebtedness 
$146,365. 

The county expended during the year $6,000 for repairing public build- 
ings, $31,504.05 for roads and bridges, $4,675.75 for support of paupers, 
$25,000 bonds redeemed, $2,312 for grand jury, $9,223 for petit jury. Total 
limount expended for the support of the CQunty government $34,900, 



60 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 100 lawyers, 12 dentists, 45 
physicians, 460 mercantile establishments, 6 wholesale liquor dealers, 40 beer 
dealers, 4 flour mills, 3 ice factories, 1 fire brick and tile manufactory, 1 can- 
ning establishment, 50 retail liquor dealers. 

THE CITY OF FORT WORTH. 

Fort Worth, the county seat, is situated 30 miles west of the city of 
Dallas near the center of the county, on a plateau overlooking the Trinity 
river. It is young, vigorous and enterprising, and is making rapid progress 
toward complete success as a city of commercial and manufacturing impor- 
tance. By general consent it stands unrivaled as a city of pluck and push, 
and it has been marked by a steady progress, changing only as the great 
tide of business depression or activity swept over the country, and now it is 
busy with vast undertakings by its railroad and other corporations, and by 
l^rivate individuals. Fort Worth has long been the principal distributing 
point of the live stock trade of the great Northwest and the Panhandle 
country of Texas. It is the general headquarters of the stockmen of these 
sections, which has very materially assisted in building up and maintaining 
the city. 

When the Texas & Pacific railroad reached Fort Worth in 1876, it was a 
small frontier village with less than 1,200 inhabitants. Immigration poured 
in. The fertile lands around the city were rapidly taken up by a thrifty 
and intelligent class of people. The efiect was marked and the increase in 
wealth and population went steadily forward, and in three years it had 
gained a population of 5,000. The United States census of 1880 gave a popu- 
lation of 6,663 ; in 1888 the population was estimated to be 24,000, and in 
1890, was 23,076. Assessed values in 1880, 11,992,891 ; in 1890, $18,817,816. 

Fort V/orth is situated in the northern portion of the central artesian 
water belt of the State, and has within its limits about 200 artesian wells^ 
which supply water for public and private enterprises. These wells vary in 
depth from 114 to 806 feet. The first well was dug in 1879, and there is no 
diminution of the water-flow. The water from these wells, in most instances, 
is wholesome, and is used also for drinking and domestic purposes. 

The manufacturing establishments now in operation and being con- 
structed are testimonies of Fort Worth's prosperity. They indicate what is 
in store for a city with such enterprise and financial backing as is possessed 
by Fort Worth. The city has eight national banks with a combined capital 
of $2,500,000. 

Fort Worth is a great railroad center. The following lines form a junc- 
tion here : Texas & Pacific, the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas, the Fort Worth 
& Rio Grande, the Fort Worth & Denver City, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa 
Fe, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the Fort Worth & New Orleans. The 
shops of the Fort Worth & Denver City, the Texas & Pacific and the Fort 
Worth & Rio Grande railroad companies are located here. 

The business and principal residence streets are macadamized. The city 
has an electric street car line, and a good system of sewerage and drainage. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 61 

WISE COUNTY 

Is one of the square counties, and is bounded on the north by Montague 
and Cooke counties, east by Denton, south by Tarrant and Parker, and west 
by Jack. 

The county is well watered. West Fork of the Trinity river flows nearly 
centrally through it from northwest to southeast ; Sandy creek enters the 
county near the northwest corner, and enters into West Fork of Trinity 
river near the center of the county. There are running streams of pure 
water, fed by numerous springs issuing from the banks along their courses. 
Timber in the county is plentiful. 

The county was created in 1856 from Cooke county, and named in honor 
of Governor Henry A. Wise, of Virginia. 

The surface of the county is generally rolling. The soil varies. There 
is the reddish or gray sandy soil of the timbered section, the black waxy of 
the prairies, and the dark loam or alluvium of the valleys, which give to the 
county land adapted to almost every conceivable purpose. The prairie land 
is particularly adapted to wheat, barley, oats, and corn, while the valley 
lands are of the highest order of fertility. Fruits and vegetables are also 
raised in abundance. Stock-raising and farming constitute the principal 
industry of the people. Coal of fair quality and in considerable quantities 
has been found in the county. 

The Denver, Texa? & Ft. Worth Division of the Union Pacific System 
passes nearly centrally through tjie county from*the northwest to the south- 
east. This railroad has a mileage in the county of 39 miles. 

The county was organized in 1856, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. Decatur is the county seat, population 2,500 ; has water works sys- 
tem, electric lights, ice factory, canning factory, capacity of 10,000 cans per 
day ; ten miles graded streets ; the Northwestern Texas Baptist College, 
140,000 building ; a fire department well equipped ; a public school building, 
cost $16,000; church buildings, all denominations. 

The other principal towns are : Alvord, population 1,000; Aurora, 500; 
Chico, 500; Greenwood, 300; Crafton, 200; Boonville, 200; Paradise, 250; 
Rhome, 200; Audubon, 200. 

Value op Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $4,664,- 
810; in 1888, $4,378,653 ; in 1890, $5,158,162. 

Lands.— Improved lands sell for from $5 to $20 per acre, unimproved for 
from $1.50 to $5 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county 
is $4.26 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 656. 

Banks. — There is one national bank in the county, with a capital stock 
of $50,000 and a surplus of $25,000. 

Newspapers.— There are four weekly newspapers published in the 
county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 5,212, with 48 
school houses, and gives employment to 117 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers: White— males $63.25; females, $37.61; colored females, $27.50. 
Total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 5,089, average attend- 
ance 3,202, and average length of school term 136 days. The estimated 



62 



THE TEXAS PANHA-NDLIO. 



value of school houses and grounds is $35,500; school apparatus, $7,000; 
making the total value of school property, $42,500. 

Churches. — The Catholic, Methodist, Christian, Presbyterian, Seventh- 
Day Adventist, Baptist and Episcopal churches are all represented. 

PEODTTCT AND VALUE OF I^ELD CROPS FOR 1890-1891. 



CROPS. 



1890. 



Acres. Product. Value 



1891. 



Acres. 



Product. Value. 



Wheat, bushels ^ 

Coni, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Cotton, bales 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses 

Cotton seed, tons 

Gardens 

Pears 

Plums 

Apples 

Peaches 

Grape vines, number 

Melons 



6,188 

46,875 

9,314 



69,808 

1,320,615 

229,504 



I 44,115 
307,557 
53,924 



28 

470 

266 

47,327 

887 

1,599 

1,354 

180 

376 



668 

■21 

77 

94 

1,872 



140 

97,716 

45,439 

17,962 

1,987 

1,744 

2,530 

678 

772 

8,981 



285 



15,499 



25,904 

21,779 

790,260 

10,759 

8,601 
13,522 

3,095 

14,376 

71,848 

70,894 

183 

1,COO 

1,900 
50,089 

2,047 
14,958 



3,943 

36,406 

4,322 

30 

2 

140 

86 

48,699 

534 

1,994 

97 



14,430 

495,387 

96,838 

740 

15 

24,230 

14,567 

15,096 

1,048 

1,251 

107 



2 



536 

87 

87 

1,515 



6,980 



45,500 



213 



f 14,305 

357,106 

66,225 

568 

15 

12,438 

7,684 

668,296 

8,518 

6,104 

806 



57 

61,840 

54,860 

100 

1,500 

1,845 



1,140 
9,940 



STOCK REPORT. 



1890. 



Value. 


Number. 


Value. 


$487, 325 


15,083 


5561,015 


257,835 


41,951 


223,890 


9,975 


138 


18,140 


23,340 


10,123 


12,905 


2,265 


549 


545 


408 


1,970 
213 






2,780 



Number. 

Horses and mules 13,637 

Cattle 41,036 

Jacks and jennets 82 

Hogs 9,418 

Sheep 2,477 

Pounds of wool clipped 2,028 

Stands of bees ...'. 

The county expended during the year $500 for repairing public build- 
ings, $5,800 for roads and bridges, $820 for support of paupers, $10,500 
bonds redeemed, $648 for grand jury, $1,920 for petit jury. Total amount 
expended for the support of the county government $17,262.29. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 18 lawyers, 3 dentists. 111 
mercantile establishments, 9 retail liquor dealers, 1 beer dealer, 2 flour 
mills, 1 ice factory, 2 canning establishments, 1 electiic light plant. 

THE CITY OF DECATUR. 

Decatur is situated in the southeastern part of the county on a com- 
manding eminence, on the divide between the West and Denton forks of 
Trinity river. It is prosperous, and is steadily growing in population and 
wealth, and has a bright future. It is suf rounded by a prosperous farming 
district. Excellent coal and fine building stone are found in the county, 
andihe developing of these is adding greatly to the wealth and importance 
of the city. It is on the Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Division of the 
Union Pacific system, and is an important point for the shipment of grain 
and live stock. It had a population of 300 in 1870, of 1 ,500 in 1880, and an 
estimated population of 1,746 in 1890; the assessed values have increas^)d 
from $50,000 to $714,000 durina; tlie same period. 



THE TKXAR PANHANDLE 



6ii 



MONTAGUE COUNTY 

Was formed from Cooke county in 1858. It is one of the group of the Red 
River counties, and is bounded on the east by Cooke, south by Wise and 
Jack, and on the West by Clay. 

This county contains 891 square miles, and is particularly an agricul- 
tural county, in which industry the people are largely engaged. The soil 
is' a rich loam and highly productive. Cotton, corn, oats, wheat and other 
small grains and vegetables and fruits yield abundantly. The general 
surface is undulating, being about equally divided between prairie and 
w^oodland. The county is well watered. Sandy, Brushy, Denton, Clear, 
Mountain, Cottonwood, Farmer, Salt, and Belknap creeks flow through 
the county, watering every section. Improved breeds of live stock are 
raised with profit. 

The Methodist (Northern and Southern), Christian, Baptist, and Pres- 
byterian churches are each represented by church organization. 

Montague is the county seat, population 795. The other principal 
towns in the county are: St. Joe, population 710; Bowie, population 1,486; 
Burlington, population 500 ; Sunset, population 375 ; Belcher, population 516. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $3,- 
683,785; in 1888, $3,944,488; in 1890, $3,298,475. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $4 to $12 per acre, unimproved 
for from $1 to $8 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county is $4.25 per acre. Acres State school land in county 4,499. 

Banks. — There is one national bank in the county, with a capital stock 
of $50,000 and a surplus of $3,006. 

Newspapers. — There are five weekly nev/spapers published in the county. 

Schools, — This county has a total school population of 4,312, with 68 
school houses, and gives employment to 86 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers: Whites — males, $73.50, females $41.50. Total number of pupils 
enrolled during the year was 4,190, average attendance 2,106, and the 
average length of school term 130 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889-1891. 



CROPS. 



1889. 



Acres. Product. Value 



Acres. Product. Value. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels , 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sugarcane, barrels syxup 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Cotton seed, tons 

Crop grass, tons 

Ground peas, bushels 



31,452 

31,596 

6,473 

8,799 

20 

216 

354 

154 

14 

6 

1G7 

742 

1 

303 

165 



467 
1 



13,015 

«22,370 

58,295 

204,338 

424 

1,951 

G0,S:^,2 

19,493 

311 

22G 

221 

1,207 

977 

2 

629 

572 

G,507 

426 

111 



5615,268 

193,770 

41,221 

42,740 

185 

1,0C1 

14,147 

8,555 

219 

170 

1,105 

5,644 

4,695 

38 

10,342 

2,286 

52,056 

1,748 

141 



42,894 

35,980 

7,464 

6,186 

5 

93 

347 

197 



592 

3,562 

583 



203 
25 



15,730 

397,750 

35,563 

117,756 

49 

675 

34,432 

13,400 



729 

1,818 

660 



408 

72 

,000 



$628,303 

287,581 

33,670 

66,125 

25 

699 

14,914 

13,400 



4,213 
12,504 
4,741 



60,480 
9>33 



64 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, 

Fruits and Garden. — Acres in pears 1%, value |33 ; in plums 38, value 
|65; in apples 3453,4, value |2,092; in peaches 1,580, value |3,880; in grape 
vines 2"%, value |1,371. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 14,213, value 1517,316; cattle 
41,601, value |293,297; jacks and jennets 99, value $10,175; hogs 13,162, 
value $20,972 ; sheep 408, value $479. Number of pounds of wool clipped 
2,040, value $255. ^ 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 67 cents. 

Miscellaneous.— There are in the county 15 lawyers, 2 dentists, 1 beer 
dealer, 3 flour mills, 1 saw mill. • 

CLAY COUNTY 

Was made in 1857 from Cook county, and named in honor of the distin- 
guished statesman Henry Clay. This county was originally organized in 
1860, but the organization was soon abandoned, and the county was not 
reorganized until November, 1873. It contains an area of 1,122 square 
miles. It is separated from the Indian Territory by the Red River on the 
north. It has Wichita and Archer counties for its western, Montague for 
its eastern, and Jack for its southern boundary. The general surface of ' 
the county is rolling, with wide and level valleys along its numerous 
streams. The soil is well adapted to agriculture, which with stock raising 
forms the principal industry of the people. 

The Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Cumberland Presbyterian, 
Christian, Catholic, Lutheran, and Dunkard churches are each represented 
by church organizations in the county. 

The Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Division of the Union Pacific System 
runs through the county. 

Henrietta is the county seat, population 2,100. Other principal towns 
in the county are : Newport, population, 200 ; Belleview, population, 300 ; 
Charlie, population, 50 ; Post Oak, population 200. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $3,- 
286,874; in 1888, $3,363,966; in 1889, $4,169,035. » 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $5 to $10 per acre, unimproved 
for from $4 to $6 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county is $3.05 per acre. 

Banks. — There is one private bank in the county, with a capital stock 
of $50,000; national bank, capital stock $35,000, making two banks in the 
county, with a total capital $85,000. 

Newspapers. — There are 2 weekly newspapers published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 1,236, with 28 
school houses, and gives employment to. 27 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers: White— males, $09.16, females, $42.50; colored — males, $35. 
Total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 1335, average attend- 
ance 580, and the average length of school term 110 days. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 
PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



65 



CROPS. 



Cotton, bales 

Com, busliels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons -.r^. 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses.. 

Sorghum cane, tons ,. 

Sorghum seed 

Cotton seed, tons 

Broom corn, tons 

Johnson grass, tons 



Acres. 



,223 

,719 
,346 

18 
415 
216 

36 
7 
4 
797 
5G1 
,817 
1.77 
,569 
379 



Product. 



S.i'Sl 

364,510 

02,055 

125,665 

354 

6,761 

69,740 

3,350 

130 

153 

1,330 

3,628 

3,916 

275 

5,157 

5,783 

1,740 

9 

258 



Value. 



$174,050 

109,353 

35,849 

37,699 

212 

4,732 

34,870 

3,350 

130 

306 

6,650 

l.S,140 

19,580 

4,420 

25,785 

34,698 

13,920 

540 

1,290 



Bees. — Stands of bees, 14 ; pounds of honey 170, value $33. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared, 4,500 ; pounds of wool clipped 25,440, 
value 14,579. . 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 6,269, value $160,015; cattle 
56,017, value $498,236 ; jacks and jennets 33, value $2,900; sheep 2,172, 
value $2,174; goats 152, value $129; hogs 1476, value $3,722. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 1889 
was 60 cents, 

Miscellaneous. — There are in tlie county 25 lawyers, 8 physicians, 3 
dentists, 45 mercantile establishments, 4 flour mills, 2 saw mills. 



JACK COUNTY 

Was formed from Cooke in 1856. It is one of the second tier of counties 
from the Red River, being separated from it by Clay county. Its inhabi- 
tants are engaged in farming and stock raising. The soil is about equally 
divided between sandy loam and black waxy. The surface is rolling 
prairie land and low valleys. The West Fork of the Trinity River passes 
through the north center of the county in a southeasterly direction. There 
pass through the county a number of smaller streams tributary to this and 
the Brazos River. Building stone of superior quality is plentiful in the 
county. A large deposit of gray limestone, or blue marble, is being 
quarried. There is a mineral well located in Vineyard City that is highly 
recommended for various diseases. 

The Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Christian churches are each 
represented by church organization. 

The county was organized in 1857, and contains an area of 870 square 
miles. Jacksboro is the county seat, population 751. The other princi- 
pal towns in the county are : New Hope, population 60 ; Antelope, popu- 
lation 80; Erysin, population 50; Post Oak, population 75; Vineyard, 
population 40. 



G6 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



Value op Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $2,200,- 
791 ; in 1SS8, |2,269,194; in 1890, $2,641,8GG. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $5 to |10 per acre, unimproved for 
from |2 to $5 i^er acre. The average taxable value of land in the county is 
$2.72 per acre. Acres State school land in the county, 14,055. 

Newspapeks. — There is one weeklj^ newspaper published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 2,178, with 34 
school houses, and gives employment to 5G teachers. Average Avages paid 
teachers ; White — males |46, females $38 ; colored — males $38, females $30. 
Total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 2,196, average attend- 
ance 1,190, and the average length of school term 86 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Acres. 



Product. 



Value. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Kye, bushels..., 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses.. 

Sorghum cane, tons :.. 

Tons cotton seed produced 



10,^45 

13,111 

2,341 

2,640 

9 

46 

IGl 

37 

77 

1 

692 

184 

734 

107 

497 



5,012 

850,915 

30,856 

66,278 

77 

436 

32,197 

. 5,130 

1,252 

46 

1,383 

196 

1,094 

184 

2,015 

2,506 



S225,529 

105,274 

21,599 

16,883 

77 

436 

9,659 

2,565 

1,252 

46 

6,915 

980 

5,475 

3,326 

10.075 

20,048 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 544, value $14,553; in apples 1, 
value $91 ; in plums 2, value $158; in pears 1, value $64; in melons 12, 
value $590; in garden 240, value $18,519; number of grape vines 2,500, 
value $561. 

Bees. — Stands of bees 28 ; jjounds of honey 450, value $57. 

Wool. — Number sheep sheared 3,025 ; pounds of wool clipped 13,842, 
value $2,518. 

Livestock. — Number ot horses and mules 9,530, value $234,060; cattle 
45,008, value $325,351; jacks and jennets 23., value $3,337; sheep 11,494, 
value $14,195; goats 2,445, value $2,560; hogs 4,588, value $6,873. 

County Finances. — The fate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 1889 
was 65 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 7 lawyers, 2 dentists, 29 mer- 
cantile establishments, 3 beer dealers, 1 flour mill. 

WICHITA COUNTY. 

Is one of the tier of the Red river counties, having for its boundaries the 
Red river on the north, Clay county on the east, Archer on the south, and 
Wilbarger on the west. It was formed in 1858 from Bexar county, and 
takes its name from the river which flows through the southern portion of 
the county. It is more particultuly a stock-raising county, although farms 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



67 



are being opened and lands put in cultivation at a rapid rate, and in a few 
years the agricultural interests will surpass all others. The soil is well 
adapted to the growth of cotton, corn, wheat and other cereals commonly 
grown in the State. It is principally a red and chocolate loam. The gen- 
eral surface is level, though there are rolling and broken portions. The 
county is M'ell watered. The Red river and its tributaries water the north- 
ern portion, and Wichita river and Beaver creek and their tributaries water 
the middle and southern portions. The Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Divi- 
sion of the Union Pacific System passes through the county from southeast 
to northwest. 

The Methodist, Baptist and Episcopal churches have church organization. 

The county was organized in 1822, and contains an area of 589 square 
miles. Wichita Falls is the county seat, population 1,987, and rapidly 
increasing. 

Value op Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $1,828,- 
495 ; in 1888, $1,844,647 ; in 1890, |3,578,300. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $5 to $10 per acre, unimproved for 
from $2 to $4 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county is 
$3.10 per acre. Acres State school land in the county, 28,821. 

Banks. — There is one private bank in the county, capital stock $25,000, 
and one national bank, capital stock $72,800. 

Schools. — The county has a total school population of 434, and 5 school 
houses, and gives emi>loyment to 13 teachers. Average- wages paid teach- 
ers : White — males $60, females $44.50. Total number of pupils enrolled 
during the year 384, average attendance 264, and the average length of 
school term 144 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1891. 



CROPS. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels ... 

Pottitoes, Iri.sh, bushels 

Hay, prairie, ton,s 

Millet, tons 

Sorgbunx cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 



Acres. 


Product. 


Value. 


960 


311 


$ 1.364 


3,974 


117,1S.5 


60,586 


35,970 


719,100 


503,580 


9,462 


87S,4S0 


94,620 


118 


1,360 


612 


52B 


15,000 


12,.'552 


16 


1,931 


1,7.'^7 


12 


2,.SS0 


2.&i0 


960 


1,440 


15,S40 


360 


720 


7,200 


72 


252 


2,520 




160 


1,230 







Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 3,125 ; pounds of wool clipped 15,515, 
value $2,325. 

Livestock. — Number of horses and mules 1,598, value $48,865; cattle 
10,041, value $81,435; sheep 6,873, value $8,201; goats 975, value $1,463; 
hogs 203, value $434. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 1889 
was 65 cents. 

Fruits and Garden.^ — Acres in peaches 7, value $375; in garden 11, 
value $785. 



68 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

WICHITA FALLS 

Is one of the rising young towns which Ijest illustrate the surprising growth 
of the Panhandle country. When this division of the Union Pacific was 
opened, the town was scarcely past the age and appearance of a frontier 
village. To-day it is one of the brightest, busiest towns in Texas,'with a 
population of from 2,500 to 3,000 and increasing every month. 

No town in Northwest Texas has a brighter future than Wichita Fallsi 
The location is all that could be desired, being the county seat, and having 
the trade of several of the best wheat-producing counties in Texas, and it is 
destined to be a city of importance. The trade of the great valley of the 
Wichita and Red rivers — to say nothing of that of the counties of Archer, 
Baylor, Knox, Throckmorton, and a good portion of Clay, Young and all of 
Wichita — gives this point a large territory to supply and draw from; in fact, 
no town in Northwest Texas possesses the advantages that Wichita Falls is 
favored with. 

The town has good free schools. If children are not educated in Texas, it is 
the fault of the parents and not that of the State. There are four churches 
in Wichita Falls, — Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist, and 
other denominations will soon build. Churches and school houses are 
erected in the country as needed. 

The receipts of Wichita Falls have grown from S4,500 per month in 1885 
to $35,000 per month in 1890, and are steadily increasing each month. This 
in itself speaks volumes for the country and the enterprise and work of the 
people, and is proof positive that Wichita Falls is well located for business 
and has a productive country to draw from. 

The Wichita Valley Railroad branches off the Fort Worth & Denver 
City Railroad, at Wichita Falls, and runs through the best agricultural 
region in Texas. 

The country adjacent to this road contains all the elements necessary to 
promote successful farming, and affords a rich field for the acquisition of 
wealth for the tiller of the soil. Tracts of land can be had at prices and on 
terms that render it accessible to industrious poor men in search of homes. 

Dundee, a station and small town of great promise, on the railroad 
twenty-eight miles southwest of Wichita Falls, is the principal trading 
point, next to Seymour, the terminus of the road, which is also the county 
seat of Baylor county. 

The soil is a red or chocolate loam and is exceedingly deep and mellow ; 
it possesses all the vital ingredients of the black waxey and hog-wallow 
lands of north-central Texas with none of their drawbacks ; it is undei'laid 
with sulphate of lime and the common grade of limestone, which furnishes 
such a basis for the renewal of its nutritive qualities that it can never be 
impoverished. There is no better winter wheat growing country to be 
found anywhere, it ia equally adapted to the growth of rye, oats, barley, 
and all the other small grains, as well as corn, millet, sorghum, vegetables 
of every description and all kinds of fruit and berries. The sod is very 
easily broken and produces the first crop nearly as good as succeeding ones. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



«9 



ARCHER COUNTY. 

Is bounded by Clay and Jack counties on the east, Wichita on the north, and 
Young on the south. It is in the midst of a fine agricultural region, though 
stock-raising is the principal industry of the people. Fsirms are becoming 
more numerous yearly as the agricultural resources are developed. The 
soil is a rich loam. The general surface of the county is a rolling prairie. 
There is no timber belt, but a few small groves of trees appear in the south- 
eastern portion of the county and along the water-courses. Big Wichita 
River flows across the northwest corner of the county, Little Wichita River 
flows through the center of the county, West Fork of the Trinity River 
flows through the southern portion of the county. These streams with 
their tributaries water nearly every portion of the county. 

The Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Christian churches are each 
represented by church organization. 

The county was organized in 1880, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. Archer is the county seat, population 475. 

Value of Propekty. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $1,130,- 
577; in 1888, 11,169,932; in 1890, $1,898,789. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from |7 to $12 per acre, unimproved for 
from $2 to $5 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county is 
$1.48 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 39,221. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 159, with 11 school 
houses, 3.nd gives employment to 10 teachers. Average wages paid teach- 
ers : White— males $40.21 ; females $38.75. Total number of pupils enrolled 
during the year was 212, average attendance 85, and the average length of 
school term 120 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Acres. 



Product. 



Value. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sugarcane, barrels syrup 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 



125 

1,112 

2,271 

1,618 

40 

92 

11 

4 



10 

71 

129 

469 



39 
519 



66 

43.366 

39,420 

75,142 

1,051 

1,244 

1,205 

610 



280 
161 
231 
614 



8 2,294 

11,908 

38,342 

13,268 

475 

583 

499 

285 



195 

892 

1,131 

4,154 



1,286 

18,570 

264 



70 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



Fruits axd Garden. — Acres in peaches 13, value $415; in apples 6; in 
melons'?, value ?375; in garden 16, value $622; number of grape vines 500, 
value $400. 

Bees.— Stands of bees 1 ; pounds of honey 50, value $10. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 9,222; pounds of wool clipped 
44,545, value $8,879. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 3,440, value $59,267; 
cattle 62,100, value $341,215; jacks and jennets 14, value $350; sheep 
22,458, value $22,458; goats 1,952, value $1,952; hogs 361, value 
$365. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 60 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 6 lawyers, 2 physicians, 3 
mercantile establishments and one retail liquor dealer. 



PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1891. 



CROPS. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 
Potatoes, Irish, bushels 
Hay, cultivated, tons ... 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 



Acres. 



1,223 

1,841 

4,49:2 

4,081 

37 

28 

11 

33 

14 

92 

462 

140 



Product. 



87 

9,328 

41,334 

15,107 

637 

119 

917 

309 

9 

51 

SO 

165 



Value. 



$■'5,918 

6,874 

27,534 

12,617 

542 

171 

487 

308 

30 

249 

1,069 

1,112 



Garden.— Acres 90, value $21,200. 

Live Stock. — Horses and mules 5,033, value $99,938; cattle 59,976, 
value $456,278; jacks and jennets 35, value $1,235; hogs 945, value $1,146; 
sheep 16,487, value $16,487. 

Wool.— Number of pounds clipped 30,000, value $8,251. 



BAYLOR COUNTY 



Joins Archer county on the west, and partakes largely of its character of 
soil and climate. The occupations of the people are similar. It is watered 
by the Brazos river in the south and the Wichita in the north. There are 
a number of smaller streams which distribute the water supply in every 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



n 



section of the county, affording ample supply to stock at all seasons of the 
year. The county is thinly settled ; but the people who have found lodg- 
ment there are industrious and law-abiding, and are using their energies to 
make known the resources and wealth of the county. They extend a most 
hearty welcome to all new settlers. 

The Baptist, Presbyterian, Christian and Methodist churches are each 
represented by church organization. 

The county was organized in 1879, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. Seymour is the county seat, population 700. 

Value op Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $1,- 
763,597; in 1888, $1,792,361; in 1890, $2,179,473. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $5 to $10 per acre, unimproved 
for from $2 to $4 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county is $2.50 per acre. Acres State school lands in county 51,962. 

Banks. — There is one private bank in the county with a capital stock 
of $25,000. 

Newspapers. — There are 2 weekly newspapers published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 307, with 7 
school houses, and gives employment to 11 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers: Whites — males, $77.50; females $48. Total number of pupils 
enrolled during the year was 328, average attendance 204, and the average 
length of school term 130 days. 

. PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CHOPS. 



Acres. 



Product. 



Value. 



Cotton, bales ., 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Kye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, I"ish, bushels 

Pea.s, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons....„ 

Miflet, tons 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sugar cane, barrels syrup 

Sorghum cane, barrel molasses. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 



68 
1,310 
5,532 
1,845 



ICO 



80 



28 
28,880 
72,980 
64,575 



3,200 



800 
155 
14 



8 1,150 
14,440 

43,788 
18,372 



1,280 



750 



320 
775 

112 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 35, value $250. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 7,245; pounds of wool clipped 30,025, 
value $4,638. 

Livestock. — Number of horses and mules 2,804, value $64,988; cattle 
17,974, value$129,421 ; jacks and jenneis 5, value $1,075; sheep 5,348, value 
$6,683; goats 236, value $118; hogs 241, value $488. 



72 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the |100 valuation for 
1889 was 107>2 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 6 lawyers. 3 dentists, 2 phy- 
sicians, 9 mercantile establishments. 

KNOX COUNTY 

Was formed from Bexar county in 1858. It is one of the 'second tier of 
counties from the Red river, being separated from that river by Hardeman 
county, which bonds it on the north. It is one of the square counties in 
Northwestern Texas, and is otherwise bounded by Baylor on the east, 
Haskell on the south, and King county on the west. It is well watered. 
North and South Wichita rivers flow through the northern and central 
parts of the county. The southern portion is traversed by the Brazos 
river. These, with their numerous tributaries, furnish abundant water for 
all purposes. This is a farming and stock-raising section. Farming is 
carried on successfully, the soil being a black waxy and sandy loam and 
highly productive. Stock-raising is the more important industry of the 
two. The general surface is rolling prairie, which peculiarly adapts it to 
grazing. There is also considerable rich bottom land in the county. Tim- 
ber sufficient for all purposes is found. There is a ledge of sandstone 
extending nearly the entire length of the county from north to south, 
about four miles west of the center. In the western portion gypsum is 
found in inexhaustible quantities. ■ There are surface indications of other 
minerals, especially of copper. 

The Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Christian churches are each 
represented by church organization. 

Benjamin is the county seat, population 500. 

Value op Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $1,703,- 
055; in 1888, $1,657,688; in 1890, $2,552,902. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $4 to $10 per acre, unimproved for 
from $1 to $5 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county is 
$2.22 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 86,400. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 159, with 7 pchool 
houses, and gives employment to 8 teachers. Average wages paid teachers: 
White — males |75, females $35. Total number of pupils enrolled during the 
year was 194, average attendance 139, and the average length of school 
term 120 days. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 73 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Acres. 



Product, 



Value. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels , 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sugar cane, barrels syrup 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses.. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 



238 

1,270 

407 

969 



77 

30,082 

5,528 

23,747 



$ 3,538 
15,197 
3,493 
7,219 



461 
519 
118 



254 
519 
118 



69 
125 
93 



83 
95 
154 



678 

735 

1,531 



11 
273 



27 
955 



522 

4,916 

304 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 12, value $70 ; in melons 28, 
value $2,909 ; in garden 14, value $967. 

Bees. — Stands of bees 4 ;_ pounds of honey 200, value $20. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 1,700; pounds of wool clipped 8,550, 
value $1,623. 

Live Stock.— Number of horses and mules 2,966, value $65,163; cattle 
31,296, value $274,365; jacks and jennets 7, value $505; sheep 1,200, value 
$1,500; goats 2, value $2; hogs 196, value $513. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 1889 
was 67)^ cents. 

Miscellaneous.— There are in the county 3 lawyers and 8 mercantile 
establishments. 



WILBARGER COUNTY 

Joins Wichita county on the west, and has the Red river for its northern 
boundaiT. It is separated from the Indian Territory by the main stream of 
the Red river, and from Greer county by Prairie Dog Town Fork of the 
Red river. The county is otherwise bounded by Wichita on the east, Bay- 
lor on the south and Hardeman on the west. It was created from Bexar 
county in 1858, and named in honor of Josiah and Mathias Wilbarger. 

The county is well watered. The Red river with its many tributaries on 
the north, Pease river in the west central, and Beaver creek on the south, 
furnish nearly every portion of the county with an abundant supply of 
water. Some of the streams, however, are impregnated with salt, gypsum 
and lime, rendering the water unpalatable. The general surface is level. 
There are, however, large bodies of undulating prairie. The timber of the 
county is confined mostly to the water-courses, and consists of a growth of 
mesquite, cottonwood, elm, willow and hackberry. About three-fourths of 
the area of the county is suitable to profitable cultivation. The soil is a 



74 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



red and sandy loam. Cotton, corn and the common cereals are raised with 
profit. Fruits and vegetables also grow well. 

The Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Division of the Union Pacific System 
passes about centrally through the county from southeast to northwest. 

The Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Christian and Baptist churches 
are represented by church organization. 

The county was organized in 1881, and contains an area of 1,170 square 
miles. Vernon is the county seat, population 2,857. The other principal 
towns in the county are: Harrold, population 250; Doans, population 200. 

Value op Property.— The assessed value of all property in 1887, $2,300,- 
076 ; in 1888, |2,332,773 ; in 1890, $4,949,956. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $5.50 to $15 per acre, unimproved 
for from $4.50 to $10 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county is $8.25 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 69,421. 

Banks.— There are two National banks in the county, with a capital 
stock each of $100,000. 

Newspapers. — There are three weekly newspapers published in the 
county. 

Schools — This county has a total school population of 2,000, with 40 
school houses, and gives employment to 50 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers : White — males $60, females $45. Total number of pupils enrolled 
during the year was 700, average attendance 400. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1890. 



CROPS. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rve, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons ■ 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses.. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton .seed produced 

Egyptian corn 



Acres. 



2,116 

10,200 

77,400 

22,215 

410 

161 

38 

14 

1 

1 

81 

310 

1,683 



92 
410 



Product. 



1,058 

006,000 

1,548,000 

888,600 

16,400 

2,415 

3,800 

1,400 

35 

15 

86 

252 

1,930 



62 
1,327 



Value. 



$ 47,610 

122,400 

1,393,200 

222,150 

14,760 

1,497 

1,000 

980 

120 

15 

846 

1,705 

12,646 



1,159 

5,530 

10 

.• 20 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 2, value $150; in melons 75, 
value $3,580; in garden 6, value $3,455. 

BEES.^Stands of bees 7 ; pounds of honey 40, value $8. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 14,504; pounds of wool clipped 
93,754, value, $14,499. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. ri 

Livestock. — Numloer of horses and mules 3,118, value $95,478; cattle 
15,6(51, value $9G,G86; jacks and jennets 5, value $310; sheep 13,437, Vidue 
^13,234; goats 123, value |159; hogs 203, value $434. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 80 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 33 lawyers, 9 physicians, 3 
dentists, 60 mercantile establishments, 1 flour mill, 1 fire brick and tile 
manufactory, 6 retail liquor dealers, 3 beer dealers, 2 ice factories. 

Wilbarger county has proven to be one of the healthiest counties in the 
State. No malaria, no yellow fever, no cholera, no mountain pneumonia, 
no consumption, no asthma. 

It is claimed that this is the best all-round farming country in all 
America, and particularly has it proven to be the country where the best 
average wheat crop is grown ; the truth being that while Dakota has had 
, 60-bushel crops, she has also 2% bushel crops. The government report 
, some two years ago gave to Colorado the belt for the greatest average 
crop (21 bushels) in the United States. The closest figures give Wilbar- 
ger county a number of bushels more than this for an average of many 
years, extending over the driest years. 

The average rain-fall of twenty-eight inches is sufficient to insure good 
■crops. The soil is a chocolate sandy loam, underlaid witli a strata of clay ; 
. -the soil resting on such a basis for the renewal of nutritive qualities is 
practically'inexhaustible. The general surface is level, with large undula- 
ting tracts. Timber abounds along the streams, consisting of Cottonwood, 
elm, mesquite and hackberry. 

Wilbarger is the largest wheat -lyroducinrj county in the State of Texas, 
and stands second in oats. For 1891 she has raised — 

Wheat 1,548,000 bushels. 

Oats 888,000 

Corn 306,000 " 

Barley , 16,400 '.' 

Besides there is raised all kinds of fruits and vegetables in paying quanti- 
ties. There is no section in the United States where farming can be cai- 
ried on at so small an expense as in Wilbarger county. No extra ex- 
pense is required to build barns for the protection of stock in winter. The 
soil requires no fertilizing, no inconvenience of rocks, no frost to prevent 
plowing any month in the year, and one man can cultivate two hundred 
acres easily without anj' help except in harvest. The expense of putting 
in a crop per acre, harvesting and hauling to market, is $6.75, where in the 
Eastern States it would cost $11.75 per acre. 

Unimproved lands can be purchased from $5 to $10 per acre ; improved 
lands from $8 to 520 per acre, governed by the distance from the county 
seat. 

Many a farmer has bought a farm in this county, paying from $7 to $8 
per acre; and the first year's crop has paid for the same, leaving a balance 
clear of from $500 to $1,000, deducting his own labor and time. 



76 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

There are hundreds of farmers who realized frota $2,500 to $3,000 on 
their wheat crop for 1891. A large number realized from $5,000 to $8,000. 
Only eighteen per cent of the county is under cultivation. Wilbarger 
county can accommodate 4,000 more farmers. 

The following shows the cost of keeping sheep and the returns in Wil- 
barger county : 

EXPENSES. 

Shepherds and wages at $11 per month and rations $250 00 

Shearing and sundry expenses at shearing time 77 00 

Dipping for scab, 4 cents per head 44 00 

Sheep dip for worms 5 00 

Extra labor 20 00 

Total $396 00 

RECEIPTS. 

1,100 sheep at 5 lbs. per head, equal pounds wool 5,500 

At 20 cents per pound 20 

Cash receipts $1,100 00 $1,100 00 

80 per cent increase, 880 head at $3 2,640 00 

. $3,740 00 

Less expenses $ 396 00 

Interest on $5,000 at 12 per cent 600 00 

Rent. of place 100 00 

$1,096 00 $1,096 00 

$2,644 00 
VERNON. 

Vernon is situated on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, 162 
miles from Fort Worth, 500 miles from Galveston, 548 miles from Kansas 
City, 1,000 miles from Chicago, and 648 miles from Denver. Vernon is 
the largest shipping point on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, a 
supply point of 25 miles of country east and west, and 100 miles north 
and south. 

One cannot help being impressed on visiting Vernon, with her well- 
built business houses, all of which are built of brick and stone in the 
modern style of architecture. This city has all the public improvements 
and accommodations that may be found in any city three times her size. 
There are established here 2 ice factories, capacity 6 tons per day each ; 
1 flour mill, capacity 225 barrels per day; 2 elevators, capacity 260,000 
bushels ; Holly system of waterworks ; a fine fire department ; 2 banks, 
First National and State National, with capital of $100,000 each; the 
largest opera house between Fort Worth and Trinidad ; a beautiful Masonic 
Temple; the finest court house in the Panhandle ; 3 good hotels; a well- 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 77 

equipped street car line ; 3 brick yards ; 4 livery stables, well stocked ; a 
well patronized electric light plant ; 3 weekly newspapers, with large cir- 
culations ; 6 churches — Methodist, Baptist, 3 Presbyterian, and a Christian, 
with a membership of 975 ; a fine High School, having enrolled over 600 
pupils ; 3 ward schools ; 1 private school, and the Wesleyan University, 
making Vernon the educational center of Northwest Texas. 

Vernon has had a wonderful trade during the past year in farm im- 
plements. No town in the United States has sold more farm imjjlements 
direct to the farmers, considering the amount of country developed. 

It is considered by all manufacturers of farm implements that she stands 
first on the list for 1891 as a distributing point. The following are a num- 
ber of leading articles sold by eight business firms dealing in farm 
supplies : >.. 

Binders 547 

"Walking Plows 810 

Sulky Plows 4^6 

Gang Plows 108 

Harrows 479 

Cultivators 61 

Drills 260 

Corn Planters 45 

Threshers, horse power 38 

Threshers, steam 9 

Wagons 515 

Barb Wire pounds, 1,527,000 

Binding Twine " 309,000 

The freight shipped to and from Vernon amounted to over 72,150,000 
pounds in 1890. It required 1,600 cars to haul the wheat that was marketed 
at Vernon, and 1,900 cars from the county, this year, and during tne 
months of July and August wheat buyers from all over the Northwestern 
States were here for the first time to take advantage of the great crop. 

During the months of August and September, 1891, the Vernon banks 
paid out to the farmers of Wilbarger county for wheat $666,531.92. 

The Wilbarger County Confmittee on statistics report the following 
statements of facts : 

"In 1881 the county had a population of 152; in 1891 it had 9,291. 
Vernon had 35 ; it now has 3,823. 

"In 1881 there were no churches — a circuit preacher held forth occasion- 
ally on the square; now you have seven churches and eighteen preachers, 
and a total membership of 1,988. 

"In 1881 there were no organized societies ; now you have one lodge of 
Freemasons,' with 105 members ; one Royal Arch Chapter, 25 members ; 
one lodge Knights of Pythias, 101 membei-s ; Knights of Honor, 30 mem- 
bers ; Knights of Labor, 40 members ; Odd Fellows, 17 members ; Grand 
Army of the Rebublic, 21 members ; 13 lodges of the Farmers' Alliance, 
with 260 members. 



7S THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

"In 1881 there was one school, with a box house 1-ixlG, L. N Perkins 
teacher, and 14 scholars ; you now have 40 school houses, valued at |56,0U0, 
erne superintendent and 50 teachers, and 2,026 scholars in the public free 
schools and four private schools, and an available school fund of $20,618. 

"In 1881 there were 51 voters; at the last general election there were 
1,650 votes cast. 

"In 1881 there were three post offices, with a weekly mail; now you 
have 10 post offices with daily juails, and postal earnings of about |11,000 
annually. The Vernon office in July, this year, sold money and postal 
orders amou^iting to |4,895; the Harrold office for the same month, $2,099. 

"In 1881 there were no public improvements; you now have two 
elevators, valued at $52,000 with a capacity of 260,000 bushels; one flouring 
mill, capacity 225 barrels per day, valued at $26,000; two ice factories, 
capacity 12 tons, and valued at $24,000; electric light plant, 600 lights, 
value $16,000; water works, value $33,000; planing mill, value $6,000; 
street railway, value $9,000; marble works, value $4,000; three brick yards, 
value $10,000. 

"In 1881 there were two hotels, built of logs; there are now 12 hotels, 
valued at $70,000, 

"In 1881 there was one blacksmith shop; there are now 26 shops. 

"In 1881 there were no banks ; now there are two National banks, with 
a capital of $200,000, doing a business of between six and seven million 
dollars per annum. 

"In 1881 there were three stores, with a capital of about $3,000; now 
there are 54 stores, with stocks valued at $303,000; six livery and sale 
stables, valued at $50,000 ; eight wagon yards, valued at $12,000. 

"In 1881 you had no county buildings; you now have a court house 
valued at $47,000; a jail, valued at $10,000; five iron bridges, valued at 
$60,000, and other bridges, $5,000. 

"In 1881 there were nine farms, with about 160 acres in cultivation; 
you now have 523 farms, with 128,700 acres in cultivation, which produced 
this year 1,548,000 bushels of wheat, and all other crops in proportion; 

"In 1881 you had no newspapers; you now have four, with a home 
circulation of over 4,000." 

HARDEMAN COUNTY 

Was made from Clay county in 1858. It was named in honor of the two 
brothers, Bailey and Thomas J. Hardeman. It is one of the tier of the 
Red river counties, having the South Fork of the Red river for its north- 
ern boundary, which separates it from Greer county. The principal 
industries of the people are farming and stock raising. The soil of the 
county is a sandy loam, and the surface is generally level. Pease river 
runs through the center of- the county from west to east, which, with 
Prairie Dog Town River, Groesbeck, Wanderers', Beaver, Good, Paradiset 
and several other smaller creeks, furnishes ample" water supply for all 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



purposes in ordinary seasons. Tlie Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Division 
of the Union Pacific System passes through the north center of the county 
from east to west. 

The Methodist, Baptist, Christian and Presbyterian churches are each 
represented by church organization. 

The county was organized in 1884, and contains an area of 1,180 square 
miles. Tlie principal towns in the county are: Quanah, population 2,000; 
Chillicothe, population 50 ; Kirkland, population 15 ; Yampareka, popula- 
tion 20. 

In explanation of the agricultural report being small as compared with 
previous years, it is proper to say that Hardeman county was divided in 
March, 1891, the south half being now a part of Foard county. That part 
was also the oldest agricultural portion of Hardeman county. A large 
portion of Hardeman county being owned by railroad companies— the land 
is not on the market. 

The following summary shows the status of the vigorous young town of 
Quanah, county seat of Hardeman county ; population 2,000: 

Temrorary Court House, cost $20,000 

Quanah Hotel. 30,000 

Roller Mill, capacity 50 barrels 15,000 

Elevator, capacitv 30,000 bushels 8,500 

Public School Building, valuerl at 1,500 

Lone Star Cement Works, capacity 

240 barrels 30,000 

Planing Mill and Cotton Gin 2,700 



County Jail 6,000 

Quanah Female College 3,500 

Two churches. 

Thirteen stone and brick business houses. 

Two stone and brick banking houses. 

Three lumber yards. 

Two livery stables. 

Two newspapers. 

L,710,- 



Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, 
-4; in 1888, $2,436,874; in 1890, $8,517,403; in 1891, 4,037,403. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from |3 to $7 per acre, unimproved for 
from $1.25 to $5.50 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county is $2.20 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 174,825. 

Newspapers. — There is one weekly newspaper published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 355, with 9 school 
houses, and gives employment to 11 teachers. Average wages paid teach- 
ers: White — males $57.5(i, females $35. Total number of pupils enrolled 
during the year was 309, and the average length of school term 110 days. 
PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1890 AND 1891. 



CHOPS, 



Wheat, bushels 

Corn, bushels '.... 

OAts, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bvxshels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels... 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Cotton, bales 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Broom corn, tons .. 

Cottonseed, tons 



f890. 



Acres. Product. | Value. 



6.419 

619 
2,244 

174 
26 

V5^i 



67,S52 

4, 60S 

37,528 

2,633 

253 

845 



5 I 3 

430 I 328 

356 475 



,824 
.491 
,113 
,428 
140 
562 



45 

,877 
212 

,y93 



1891. 



Acres. Product. Value. 



19,000 

1,200 

4,488 

350 

26 

15 

10 

85 

15 

500 



550 
40 



275,000 

10,000 

8:^,820 

5,266 

253 

2.000 

500 

15 

13 

600 



,187 
20 



8206.250 

5,000 
33,528 

3,159 
140 

1,400 
500 
375 
160 

4,180 



5,986 

1,600 

45 



80 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

1890. IS'.lI. 

STOCK REPORT. . " ■ ■ ' ;-- — • 

Number. Value. Number. Value. 

ffir -'^ -'^^- ;■•:■:::.:=::::: ilS HIS ii:m IPoS 

Jacks and jennets v.:.:-:::::::::::: 250 m m IS 

Qheeo '. 1.000 1,000 850 850 

Poun^'sof wool clipped 6,000 900 5,100 765 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 1889 
was 92}^ cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 11 lawyers, 4 physicians, 1 
dentist, 18 mercantile establishments, 2 beer dealers. 

GREER COUNTY 

Was formed in 1860 from Clay county. It is situated in the forks of the 
Prairie Dog Town Fork and the North Fork of the Red river. The former 
is claimed by the United States government as the boundary between Texas 
and the Indian Territory, the latter by the State of Texas as the correct 
boundary. The boundary question is still a disputed one, both the State 
and the National Government claiming the territory. The county contains 
large bodies of agricultural land of a rich soil. It is a black and chocolate 
sandy on the uplands, and a dark loam on the river and creek bottoms. It 
is one of the best watered counties in the State. The interior part is wat- 
ered by the Elm Fork of the Red river, North and South Forks of Elm, 
North, South and Little Turkey, Frazier, Boggy, Sandy, Bitter, Bull and 
Station creeks, and a large number of smaller streams, which flow in a 
southeasterly direction. The northwestern portion of the county is moun- 
tainous. There are, too, a few abrupt elevations on the North Fork of the 
Red river. The balance of the area of the county is level or slightly 
rolling. 

The Baptist, Primitive Baptist, Christian and Methodist churches have 
church organizations in the county. 

The county was organized in 1886, and contains an area of 2,462 square 
miles. Mangum is the county seat, population 300. The other principal 
towns are : Navago, population 75 ; Frazier, population 50 ; Quartz City, 
population 25. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $1,110,- 
266; in 1890, $1,205,732. 

Lands. — The average taxable value of land in the county is 57 cents per 
acre. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 514, with 14 
school houses, and gives employment to 13 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers, $44.64. Total number of pupils enrolled during the year was 386, 
and the average length of school term 80 days. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 
PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Product. 



Value. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

I'eas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sugarcane, barrels syrup 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 



15 

5,977 

1,834 

3,716 

30 

48 

60 

33 

75 

14 



115 
1,238 



99 
1,550 



11 

111,109 

■29,2-58 

65,065 

400 

323 

7,761 

1,800 

829 

361 



193 
1,912 



110 

5,295 

5 



8 408 

43,342 

21,599 

19,141 

300 

191 

3,304 

1,950 

1,138 

364 



601 
12,576 



2,258 

3,910 

40 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 18, value $725 ; in apples 9, value 
$263; in melons G3, value $2,903; in garden 35, value |1,678; number of 
grape vines 1,000, value $50. 

Bees. — Stands of bees 9; pounds of honey 50, value $7.50. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 15,300 ; pounds of wool clipped 129,000, 
value $10,700. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 4,231, value, $120,720; cattle 
65,014, value $456,671; jacks and jennets 8, value $1,150; sheep 10,628, 
value $10,628; goats 405, value $405; hogs 302, value $1,019. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 65 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 8 lawyers, 4 physicians, 18 
mercantile establishments, 1 ice factory, 2 retaij liquor dealers. 

CHILDRESS COUNTY 



Was named in honor of George 0. Childress, the author of the Declara- 
tion of Texan Independence. It was made in 1876 from Fannin county. 
It is one of the newly organized counties, and is situated west of and 
adjoining Greer county. Prairie Dog Town Fork of Red river, which is 
claimed by the United States government as the boundary between Texas 
and the Indian Territory, passes through the county near the center. The 
South Fork of Red river and the tributaries of Pease river water the 
southern portion of the county. The Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth Division 
of the Union Pacific System runs through the county from east to west. 
The general surface is undulating prairie land with forests of timber on 
the water-courses. The people are engaged in farming and stock raising, 
which is the chief source of wealth in the county. The climate of the 



82 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



county is finely adapted to the successful raising of stock, while all farm 
products are grown with marked success. The soil is a black and red 
loam and is highly productive. 

The Methodist and Baptist churches are each represented by church 
organization in the county. 

The county was organized in 1887, and contains an area of 758 square 
miles. Childress is the county seat, population 300. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $1,- 
045,964; in 1888, $1,434,402; in 1890, $1,729,310. 

Lands.— Improved lands sell for from $2.50 to $5 per acre, unimproved 
for from $2 to $3 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county ia $1.86% per acre. Acres State school land in county, 123,640. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 102, and gives 
employment to three teachers. Average wages paid teachers : White- 
male^ $75. The average length of school term was 75 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Cotton, bales 

Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Barley, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sugar cane, barrels sugar 

Sugarcane, barrels syrup 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses.. 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Tons cotton seed produced 

Milo maize 



Acres. 



Product. 



326 

273 

395 

1 

IS 
3 
1 
1 
1 



135 



683 
........ 



3,810 

2,491 

5,075 

5 

140 

225 

28 

8 

4 



184 



1,173 

i'-i" 



Value. 



«1,921 

2,03tf 

2,178 

5 

39 

262 

33 



1,678 



217 
5,906 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in melons 2, value $25; in garden 1, 
value $10. 

Livestock. — Number of horses and mules 657, value $23,960; cattle 
36,647, value $1,306,865; jacks and jennets 5, value $245 ; goats 300, value 
$225; hogs 39, value $155. 

County Finances.^ — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 65 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 3 lawyers, 2 physicians, 8 
mercantile establishments. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



83 



DONLEY COUNTY 

Was made in 1876, from Bexar county, and was named in honor of Stock- 
ton P. Donley, one of the early sui:>reme judges of Texas. It is situated 
west of Greer county, from which it is separated by Collingsworth county. 
The people are engaged largely in stock raising. There are a few farms 
in the county, however, on which are raised the cereals common to the 
State. The county is watered by the Middle Fork of Red river, and Car- 
roll, Barton, Whitefish, Sadler's, Mulberry, Hall, Lake, Oak, Kelly, 
■Skillet, Reckerd, and Allan creeks. The Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth 
Division of the Union Pacific System passes through the southwestern 
portion of the county in a northwesterly direction. 

The Methodist, Episcopal and Presbyterian churches each have church 
organizations in the county . 

The county was organized in 1882, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. Clarendon is the county seat, population 949. The other princi- 
pal town in the county is Old Clarendon, population 100. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $815,- 
325; in 1888, $1,286,905; in 1890, $1,703,927. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $5 to $10 per acre, unimproved 
for from $2 to $3 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county 
is $1.57 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 205,120. Acres of 
land subject to pre-emption, 2,000. 

. Banks.— There is one private bank in the county, with a capital stock 
of $20,000. 

Newspapers.— There are 2 weekly newspapers published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 103, with 1 
school house, and gives employment to 2 teachers. Average wages paid 
teachers: White— female $69.37. Total number of pupils enrolled during 
the year was 114, average attendance 60, and the average length of school 
term 180 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889—1890. 





1889. 1 


1890. 


CROPS. 


Acres. 1 Product. 

1 


Value. 


Acres. 


Product. 


Value.. 


Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 


80 


679 


$ 359 


140 

92 
145 

24 

25 
4M 

nt 


2,215 

1,472 

2,212 

390 

25 

4.54 

65 


«1,146- 
1,216. 
1,065 


Oats, bushels 


13 


300 


120 


Barley, bushels 

Rye, for bay, tons 


z..... :::... 


275' 








150 


Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 


4 


95 


110 


567 
115 




1 

12 

207 

57 

7 

219 


10 
21 

389 
72 
16 

394 


30 
240 

2,375 
655 
400 

2,600 




Hay, cultivated, tons 


11 


12 


130 


Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, bbls. molasses... 


274 


109 

2 

892 


926 

40 

5,337 

855 








35 


Peaches 










108 


Melons 








2i^ 




3,395 






■■ i 







84 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

1890. 1801. 

STOCK REPORT. . ^ . . -^ 

Number. Value. Number. Value. 

Horses and Mules 828 8 26,315 1,453 8 40,330 

Cattle 28,436 230,090 30,196 254,269 

Dairies 2 3 

Jacks and Jenuets 1 150 4 130 

Hogs 153 -730 229 902 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the f 100 valuation for 
1889 was 57)^ cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There arein the county 6 lawyers, 3 physicians, 10 
mercantile establishments. 

WHEELER COUNTY. 

Joins Greer county, and has the Indian Territory for its eastern boundary. 
The county was formed from Bexar and Fannin counties in 1876, and named 
in honor of Royal T. Wheeler, the second Chief Justice of tlie Supreme 
Court of Texas. The face of the county for the most part is rolling prairie. 
The North Fork of the Red river and Sweetwater creek flow from west to 
southeast through the county. The water-courses are marked by a growth 
of timber. The soil irs a rich sandy loam and very productive. Stock-rais- 
ing is almost the exclusive industry of the people. Very little farming has 
been done, and only in connection with stock-raising. 

The Methodist (Northern and Southern) and Presbyterian churches are 
represented by church organizations. 

The county was organized in 1879, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. Mobeetie is the county seat, population 700. 

Value op Property. — ^The assessed value of all property in 1887, $921,- 
365; in 1889, $838,118. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $3 to |10 per acre, unimproved 
for from $1 to $3 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county 
is 11.62 per acre. Acres State school land in the county, 201 ,120. Acres of 
land subject to pre-emption, 6,400. 

Banks. — There is one private bank in the county, with a capital stock of 
125,000. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 315, with 4 school 
houses, and gives employment to 8 teachers. Average wages paid teachers : 
White— males $51.66, females $40. Total number of pupils enrolled during 
the year was 115, average attendance 83, and the average length of school 
term 67 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Corn, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels. 

Hay, prairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Cottonseed, tons 



2,0!0 
686 
50 



564 
848 
958 



Product. 



10,200 
0,530 
.500 
3,000 
2,256 
2.680 
7,202 



Value. 



$8,643 
6,530 
900 
27,000 
20,294 
26,800 
57,619 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



85 



Fruits AND Garden. — Acres in melons 25, value $300; in garden 75, 
value $1,500. 

Wool. — Number of sheep sheared 3,300 ; pounds of wool clipped 16,500, 
value 12,476. 

Live Stock.— Number of horses and mules 927, value $32,036; cattle 
19,309, value $173,574; jacks and jennets 1, value $300; sheep 2,158, value 
$3,983; goats 15, value $15; hogs 122, value $460. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 60 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 5 lawyers, 2 physicians, 9 
mercantile establishments, 3 retail liquor dealers, 2 beer dealers, and 1 
ice factory. 

POTTER COUNTY. 

Is one of the newly organized counties of the Panhandle. It was formed 
in 1876 from Bexar county, and named in honor of Robert Potter, Secretary 
of the Navy during the government ad interim. It is situated in the north- 
western part of the State, on the line of the Denver, Texas & Ft. Worth 
Division of the Union Pacific System. The southern portion of Potter 
county consists of slightly undulating plains, known as the plains of Llano 
Estacado. It has a rich fertile soil of great depth, varying from a sandy to 
a black loam, which is well adapted to the growth of grain. The county is 
well watered. The Canadian river flows through the northern portion. 
This stream is augmented by several tributaries — Amarillo, Bonita, and 
Turkey creeks being the most important smaller streams traversing the 
county. There are several lake's of fresh water in the county, some of which 
are filled with water throughout the year. Farming as a distinct calling is 
not followed, there being less than 100 acres cultivated in the county. Stock- 
raising engrosses the attention of the people. 

The INIethodist, Presbyterian and Cliristian churches are each repre- 
sented by church organization. 

The county was organized in 1887, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. Amarillo is the county seat, population 1,900; has $40,000 brick 
court house, 12 miles of water inains, $30,000 stone board of trade building, 
4 churches, 2 national banks. Government observatory, $40,000 hotel. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1891. 



CROPS. 



Acres. 



Product. 



Value. 



Wheat, bushels 

Corn, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 
Potatoes, Irish, bushels. 
Hay, cultivated, tons .... 

Hay, prairie, tons , 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Sorghum, molasses 

Broom corn, tons 



28 


500 


50 


900 


200 


700 


:10 


2,100 


10 


400 


300 


3,000 


5i)0 


3,500 


300 




300 


1,500 


100 gal. 




40 


400 



8 500 
540 
892 

1,100 
400 



i^(> THE TEXy\8 FANHAJS'DLK. 

, =—— 1 SaO. ■ ^ 1891. . 

Number. Viilm".-, Number. Value. 

Horses ..„ 1,407 $;'.(;, li:! 1,907 $ 4G,443 

Mules ISO IS.OOO 

Oattle 27,2iit 2;;'.i,r.:!i> 27,261 2:ii),552 

Jacks aiidJennets -M ;i'.)5 jfiO 4,800 

Hogs : 200 1,000 

Sheep ]:,0 l.JO 150 150 

Pounds of wool clipped 115,000 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, 
:|342,700; in 1888, |1,458,526; in 1890, $1,465,912. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $4 to $7 per acre, unimproved for 
from $1 to $3 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county is 
;|2.01 per acre. Acres State school land in the county, 189,480. Acres land 
subject to pre-emption, 1,280. 

Fruits and Garden.— Acres in melons 30, value $500; in garden 50, 
value $1,500. 

County Finances.— The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 80 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 9 lawj^ers, 2 physicians, 1 den- 
tist, 6 mercantile establishments. 

HALE COUNTY. 

Is situated in the center of the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plains, and is one 
level prairie from center to circumference, almost every acre of which can be 
cultivated. It has no rivers, creeks, hills, mountains or forests. The only 
water-courses of any kind are from slight depressions called "draws," 
which trend from the northwest to southeast, and one of which, the Run- 
ning Water Draw, is a beautiful bold spring branch for twenty miles, 
where it sinks. The drainage consists of successions of saucer-shaped 
basins, varying in size from one to one thousand acres, and so situated as 
to form the most perfect drainage and yet retain every drop of rainfall. 
On this account a small rain does as much good here as a large rain does 
in a country where most of the water is carried away by creeks, branches, 
etc. Many of these basins hold water the year round, and hence are 
called surface lakes. In any of these draws water can be had by digging 
to a depth varying from 10 to 20 feet, as pure as any spring, and a never 
failing supply. The same class of water can be had anywhere on the 
highest points at from 25 to 60 feet. 

The soil is a very rich chocolate or dark sandy loam, and easy of culti- 
vation. It ranges from one to three feet deep, and is underlaid with a 
stiff red clay. The only natural product is a very luxuriant growth of 
mesquite grass, with now and then a fine crop of wild rye in the basins, 
Tjvhich makes very good hay. Some farming is now being done, but the 
principal industry is stock raising, stock remaining fat ten months in the 
year on the grass. Fruits and vegetables of alrnost every kind do well. 
Some irrigation is being done by means of wells and wind mills, 
which is proving very satisfactory, as it is very cheaply and easily done. 
The county was organized August 5, 1888, and has a population of between 
600 and 600. Plainview is the county seat, population 350. ^ 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



87 



Lands. — Acres State school land in county 278,400. Acres of land sub- 
ject to pre-emption, 49,926. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 88. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Acres. 



Product. 



Value. 



Corn, bushels 

Wheat, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Peas, bushels 

Beans, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Sorghum cane, barrels molasses.. 
Sugar cane, barrels sugar 




820 
10 
815 
25 
3.3 
30 

1,870 
\bO 

3,150 
25 
93 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in garden 1, value $75. 

Wool. — Number sheep sheared 4,850; pounds of wool clipped 22,500, 
value 14,125. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 809, value $17,937 ; cattle 
16,777, value $142,692; jacks and jennets 5, value $240; sheep 4,100, value 
$5,962 ; goats 2, value $42 ; hogs 25, value $105. 

CoX'XTY FiNAXCES.— The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 62 cents. 

Miscellaneous.— There are in the county 2 lawyers, 5 mercantile 
establishments. 



CROSBY COUNTY 



Was created in 1876 from Bexar county, and named in honor of Stephen 
Crosby, at one time Commissioner of the General Land Office. It is one of 
the group of small counties in Northwestern Texas. It is distinctly a stock- 
raising county, although farms are numerous and the agricultural products 
of the county form an important part of its wealth. 

The soil is a chocolate loam, and suited to the growth of field crops, veg- 
etables and fruits. The general surface of the county is prairie, with hills 
and valleys along the water-courses. White and Yellow House Forks, 
prongs of the Brazos river, furnish the water supply of the county. 

The county is settled by a thrifty and law-abiding people. Crime is 
almost unknown. 

■ The Quaker atid Methodist churches are each represented by church 
organization. 

The county was organized in 1886, and contains an area of 900 square 
miles. 



88 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



Estacado is the coanty seat, population 238. The other principal towns 
in the county are : Mt. Blanco, populatron 53 ; Silver Falls, population 20. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $777,- 
345; in 1890, $1,386,529. Increase, $609,184. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $4 to $10 per acre, unimproved for 
from $1.50 to $5 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the county 
is $2 per acre. Acres State school land in county, 137,640. Acres of land 
subject to pre-emption, 16,269. 

Newspapers. — There is one weekly newspaper published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 120, and gives 
employment to 3 teachers. Average wages paid teachers : White — males 
$46, females $45 ; colored — males $45. Total number of pupils enrolled dur- 
ing the year was 71, average attendance 44, and the average length of 
school term 120 days. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Acres. 



Product. 



Value. 



Wheat, bushels 

Corn, bushels 

Oats, bushels 

Rye, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 

Potatoes, Irish, bushels 

Hay, cultivated, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Sorghum cane seed, bushels 
Rice corn, bushels 



84 

26 
2 
2 

3' 

42 
486 

87 



y^ 



80 
798 
500 

65 
315 

10 
3 

40 

1,418 

216 

970 



SlOO 

798 

500 

65 

470 

25 

22 

450 

7,302 

dZA 

917 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 10, value $350 ; in melons 9, 
value $650 ; in garden 4, value $350. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 827, value $26,225 ; cattle 
41,264, value $336,988 ; jacks and jennets 22, value $110 ; sheep 4,187, value 
$6,280; goats 31, value $46; hogs 26, value $107. 

County Finances. — The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 
1889 was 25 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 3 lawyers, 2 physicians, 9 
mercantile establishments. 

OLDHAM COUNTY 



Takes its name in honor of Wilhamson S. Oldham, deceased, a distin- 
guished jurist and orator of Texas. It is situated on the northwestern 
limit of the State, with New Mexico as its western border. It is also one 
of the third tier of counties from the northern limit of the State. 
It was formed from Bexar county in 1876, and contains an area of 1,477 
miles. The Canadian river flows through the northern part of the county, 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



89 



and with its tributaries furnishes water the whole year. The general sur- 
face of the county is undulating, with broken cliffs and ravines on the 
border of the streams. The soil of the county is variable, its red and 
black loam predominating. Agriculture as a distinct business is not 
engaged in, stock-raising being the principal industry. The Denver, 
Texas & Ft. Worth Division of the Union Pacific System passes across 
the northeast corner of the county, having a mileage of 21 miles in the 
county. Tascosa is the county seat, with a population of 400. 

Value of Property. — The assessed value of all property in 1887, $592,- 
446; in 1890, $1,561,672. Increase $969,226. 

Lands. — Improved lands sell for from $2 to $5 per acre, unimproved 
for from $1 to $3 per acre. The average taxable value of land in the 
county is $1 per acre. Acres State school land in the county, 154,400. 
Acres land subject to pre-emption, 20,830. 

Newspapers. — There is one weekly newspaper published in the county. 

Schools. — This county has a total school population of 105, with 1 
school house, and gives employment to 1 teacher. Average wages paid 
teachers: White — males $75. Tot^il number of pupils enrolled during the 
year was 62, average attendance 37, and the average length of school term 
100 days. The estimated value of school houses and grounds is $500, 
school apparatus $250, making the total value of school property $760. 
Total tuition revenue received from the State, $420. 

Farm and Crop Statistics. — There are 10 farms in the county ; 18 
farm laborers were employed on the farms of the county during the year, 
average wages paid being $25 per month. 

PRODUCT AND VALUE OF FIELD CROPS FOR 1889. 



CROPS. 



Product. 



Value. 



Corn, bushels 

Potatoes, sweet, bushels 
Hay, cultivated, tons.... 

Hay, i)rairie, tons 

Millet, tons 

Sorghum cane, tons 

Corn fodder, tons 



22 

1 

120 

698 

119 

1,075 

50 



190 

20 

420 

1,043 

146 

1,155 

71 



«ia5 

40 
5,040 
10.:-;10 
1.660 
9,300 
426 



Fruits and Garden. — Acres in peaches 1, value $200; in apples 1, value 
$25; in plums 1, value $10; in pears 1, value $10; in melons 5, value $600; 
in garden 10, value $800. 

Live Stock. — Number of horses and mules 1,329, value $39,881 ; cattle 
71,753, value $539,118; jacks and jennets 20, value $200; sheep 45, value 
$67 ; goats 12, value $18; hogs 26, value $130. 

County Finances.— The rate of county tax on the $100 valuation for 1889 
was 65 cents. 

Miscellaneous. — There are in the county 4 lawyers, 2 physicians, 6 
mercantile establishments, 4 retail liquor dealers. 



90 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

UNORGANIZED TERRITORY. 

In addition to these counties already noted, there is an immense tract of 
rich farming countiy as yet unorganized. There are in the Panhandle 
country thirty-two counties unorganized, containing an area of 32,600 miles 
— room enough for millions of people. Of course under present conditions 
the gathering of statistics has been impossible. But the Cmmissioner of 
Agriculture estimates that at the close of 1888 there were in these oi^tlying 
districts 450,000 sheep, and that the wool clip for that year amounted to 
2,070,000 pounds. 

WEALTH AND PROGRESS. 

In the preceding pages has been given a brief history of several Pan- 
handle counties and their status in wealth at the present time. But this 
showing does not tell the story of the wonderful development or the start- 
ling rapidity with which these counties leaped at a single bound from 
obscurity to prominence— from nothingness, as it were, to wealth and pros- 
perity. And this story is best told by dry figures, and figures, it is said, are 
sometimes eloquent; these are, certainly. If you can picture to yourself a 
county which was represented on the assessment rolls by a blank line from 
1871 to 1879, and then in that year was put down at a total valuation of 
$4,147, you can see where one county stood a short ten years ago. But that 
same county had, according to the State Comptroller, at the close of 1888. 
$1,844,647 of taxable property. That is Wichita county, one of the grand- 
est counties in the Panhandle. It is submitted that the details of increased 
values which follow are not, nor have been, equaled in any portion of the 
Union for the same period of time. 

Tarrard county, 1871, $2,424,879; 1888. $12,516,021; 1890, $18,817,816. 

Wise county, 1871, $657,883;.. 1888, $4,378,653; 1890, $5,158,162. 

Montague county, 1871, $372,785; 1888, $3,944,488;' 1890, $4,819,769. 

Clay county, 1871, ; 1874, $99,256; 1888, $3,363,966; 1889, $4,169,035. 

Archer county, 1871, ; 1876, $3,250; 1888, $1,169,932; 1890, $1,898,789. 

Baylor county, 1871, ; 1874, $10,248; 1888, $1,792,361 ; 1890, $2,179,473. 

Knox couniyylSll, ; 1874, $18,972; 1888, $1,657,688; 1890, $2,552,902. 

miharger county, 1871, ; 1874, $35,500; 1888, $2,327,773; 1890, 

$4,949,956. 

Hardeman county, 1871, ; 1874, $61,720; 1888, $2,436,874; 1890, 

$3,517,403. 

Greer county, 1871-1880, ; 1881, $78,600 ; 1888, $615,211 ; 1890, $817,577. 

Childress county is one of the Panhandle wonders ; it was represented in 
the Comptroller's report bv a blank hne from 1871 to 1882, and in the last 
named year showed a valuation of $2,600. The assessed valuation of the 
county for 1888 was $1,434,402; 1890, $1,729,310. 

Donley county, l^n-19,m, ; 1881, $92,868; 1888, $1,286,905; 1890, 

SI 703 9*^7 

' Ai^strong county, \%n-\%m, ; 1881, $104,951; 1888, $563,615; 1890, 

%\ 721 869 

' Poker county, Wl, ; 1879, $68,190; 1888, $1,458,526 ; 1890, $1,465,912. 

WxcUta county, 1880, $117,860; 1890, $3,578,300. 

Randall co^inty, 1871-1880, ■; 1881, $21,800; . 18S8, $230,994; 1890, 

$696,212. 

Hale county, 1871-1882, ; 1883, $25,150; 1888, $223,574; 1890, $880,376. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. pl 

Oroshy county, 1871-1878, ; 1879, $26,215; 1890, $1,192,810. 

Oldham county, 1871-1878, ; 1879, $163,921 ; 1890, $1,500,483. 

Jack county, 1880, $1,125,501; 1890, $2,641,866. 

Examples might be multiplied, but the foregoing might be sufficient tcp 
show any intelligent reader of statistics that the newly stimulated growth^ 
in population and wealth in Texas between the periods named, advanced 
more rapidly in the Panhandle country than in any other portion of the 

State. Where a county is set down as having reported , or 

"nothing," if is meant that the county within the dates fixed was unor- 
ganized, had no taxable wealth within its borders, could scarcely be 
called inhabited, and was used only for the sustenance of herds of cattle, 
or was given over entirely as a wilderness. 

The emerging of vast tracts like these from frontierism into the order 
and symmetry of organized government, the building of towns and 
cities, the raising of abundant crops, and all within the lapse of so few 
brief years, partakes somewhat of the marvelous, and calls for solid, sub- 
stantial facts in support of the assertions made regarding this extraordin- 
ary country. The facts presented are official and reliable. But the half 
has not been told of the country and its magnificent possibilities. 

SOME RANDOM NOTES. 

It has been asked by a few nervous souls, "Are we going to be safe in 
Texas if we go?" Safe from what? The same political equality exists 
there and under as vigorous protection as it do^fes in Iowa. No man will 
question your right to speak and vote as you see fit in so far as your polit- 
ical principles are concerned. 

There has been some small amount of feeble objection urged against 
this great empire because of its well-known pronounced political status ; 
but to imagine that every new-comer is called upon to declare his faith, 
and be ostracised if he does not agree with other inhabitants, is a mon- 
strous perversion of the truth, and an insult to those gallant Texans whose 
pride in their State amounts to an idolatry. 

You will find men there from almost every Northern State, engaged in 
every department of trade and commerce ; and if you have a particular 
"ism" or "ology" you can preach and practice it with as much freedom 
in Texas as you could in Vermont. "Tell the people," said that well-be- 
loved executive, Governor Lawrence S. Ross, while speaking to the writer 
of these pages on this point, — "tell the people of the North they are wel- 
come to Texas, and that in finding here a new home they shall lose nothino 
of their liberty, their free speech, nor their right to their political faith. I 
myself am from Iowa." 

SUFFRAGE. 

The following classes of persons are prohibited from voting in this 
State:— 

1. All persons under twenty -one years of age. 

2. Idiots and lunatics. 



91' THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

3. Paupers supported by any county. 

4. Persons convicted of any felony. 

5. Soldiers, marines, and seamen in the service of the United States. 

Every male citizen twenty-one years of age, subject to none of the fore- 
going disqualifications, who has resided in the State one year next preced- 
ing the election and the last six months within the district or county where 
he offers to vote, is a qualified elector. 

EXEMPTIONS FROM TAXATION. 

Farm products in the hands of the producer, and family supplies for 
home and farm use. 

Household and kitchen furniture to the value of $350, including a sew- 
ing-machine. 

All annual pensions granted by the State. 

All public property. 

Lands used exclusively for graveyards, or grounds for burying the dead, 
unless held by persons or corporations for profit. 

Buildings and lands attached thereto belonging to charitable or edu- 
cational institutions, and used exclusively for charitable or educational 
purposes. 

EXEMPTIONS FROM FORCED SALE. 

A homestead worth $5,000 exclusive of improvements, if in a town or 
3ity; if in the country, 200 acres, including improvements and crops grow- 
ing thereon, except for part or all of the purchase money thereof, the taxes 
lue thereon, or for material used in constructing improvements thereon, and 
in this last case only when the work and material are contracted for in writ- 
ing, with the consent of the wife given in the same manner as is required in 
tnaklng a sale and conveyance of the homestead. 

All household and kitchen furniture, and all provisions and forage on 
band for home consumption. 

Any lot or lots in a cemetery for the purpose of sepulture. 

All implements of husbandry, and all tools, apparatus, and books 
belonging to any trade. 

The family library and all family portraits and pictures. 

Five milch cows and their calves, and two yoke of work oxen, with neces- 
sary yokes and chains. 

One gun, two horses and one wagon, one carriage or buggy, and all 
saddles, bridles, and harness necessary for the use of the family. 

Twenty head of hogs and twenty head of sheep. 

All current wages for personal services. 

WEIGHTS OF FARM PRODUCTS. 

By an act of the Eighteenth Legislature, approved April 10, 1883, the 
following was established as the legal weight per bushel of farm products: — 

Wheat, 60 lbs.; corn, shelled, 56 lbs.; corn on ear, husked, 70 lbs.; corn, 
unhusked, on ear, 72 lbs.; oats, 32 lbs.; barley, 48 lbs.; rye, 56 lbs.; buck- 
wheat, 42 lbs.; white beans, 60 lbs. ; Irish potatoes, 60 lbs,; sweet potatoes, 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. Dj 

55 lbs.; onions, 57 lbs.; turnips, 55 lbs.; dried apples, 28 lbs.; dried peaches, 
28 lbs.; bran, 20 lbs.; Hungarian grass seed, 48 lbs.; hemp seed, 44 lbs.; flax 
seed, 5G lbs.; stone coal, 80 lbs.; charcoal, 22 lbs.; salt, 50 lbs.; clover seed, 
(iO lbs.; timothy seed, 45 lbs.; cotton seed, 32 lbs.; millet seed, 50 lbs. 

LEGAL RATE OP INTEREST. 

The legal rate of interest fixed by the Constitution of 1876 is eight 
per cent. A rate not exceeding twelve per cent may be charged, if speci- 
fied in the contract. Any higher rate is usurious, and the principal alone 
can be recovered in case usury is pleaded. 

A TEXAS FULL HAND. 

Timber 46,302,500 acres 67,508,500,000 feet. 

Wheat— annually 400,000 acres 4,173,700 bushels. 

Cotton 4,000,000 acres ' 1,730,000 bales. 

Corn 3,000,000 acres- 63,416,300 bushels. 

Oats 375,000 acres 14,810,100 bushels. 

Horses and mules 1,229,690 head 33,166,329 dollars. 

Cattle 7,081,976 head 51,008,550 dollars. 

Sheep and goats 4,878,301 head 5,601,280 dollars. 

Hogs 1,040,929 head 1,241,655 dollars. 

EDUCATED FARMERS, 

Read the nobly worded statement of the Texas Agricultural College (page 
50) in outlining its policy, and mark the sound common sense brought to 
bear on the subject. 

COLONIES. 

Parties desirous of ascertaining facts about locations for colonies will 
receive all necessary information by addressing any of the following 
persons: — 

Ed. L. McDonougii, Secretary Hartley County Colony, Hartley, Hartley 
county, Texas. 

N. C. Blanciiaud, President lowa-Pauhandle Colony, Salisbury, Hall 
county, Texas. 

J. Kennedy, President Iowa-Texas Colony, Iowa Park, Wichita county, 
Texas. 

Nebraska-Iow^a Colony, Henrietta, Clay county, Texas. 

Thomas McConnell, Dakota-Texas Colony, Sunset, Montague county, 
Texas. 

Illinois-Texas Colony, Chillicothc, Hardeman county, Texas. 

General R. A. Cameron, Commissioner of Immigration, Fort Worth, 
Texas. 

HEALTH AND PLEASURE. 

Texas is exceptionally well situated for climatic influences, without those 
extremes of cold and heat that endanger life from pulmonary affections 



94 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

inducod by the former, and fever and malarial troubles by the latter. The 
mean annual temperature of 60° is favorable to human health as it is to plant 
life. In the river bottoms, where there is rapid decomposition of organic 
matter, under elevated temperature in a moist atmosphere there vi^ill always 
be malaria; so too, where new land is being opened up the poison lurks; but 
a due observance of simple sanitary laws obviates all occasion for contract- 
ing the fevers which though painful, are rarely fatal. The cooling fresh 
breezes from the Gulf do much to weaken and dissipate malaria. Most of 
Texas, however, is prairie or woodland, and consequently vital statistics sViow 
her great healthfulness. The death rate is only about 13 annually for each 
thousand inhabitants, as against 33 in England, 14 in Pennsylvania, and 15 
in all the United States. 

Every year thousands of people from the blizzard-blighting West and icy 
North come to San Antonio, Boerne, and Austin, and to the El Paso and 
Panhandle sections, for recuperation, and often experience recovery where 
the bronchial, catarrhal or asthmatic troubles have not already made too 
great inroad. California cannot excel Texas in this important respect. Be- 
sides, a board of health is organized in nearly every city and town, who 
require attention to thorough sanitation and health improvement. 

The entire section of country in New Mexico lying contiguous to this 
Division of the Union.Pacific System, from the Summit to the Sea, is especially 
favored with respect to its climatic influences. The Raton Mountains, a 
spur range extending eastward from the mighty Rockies, enclose this 
region on the north — an impassable barrier to the cold northers experienced 
farther east and south, while the main range of the Rockies, the back-bone 
of the continent, stands sentinel to the west. Sheltered thus, lies what is 
known as the upper plains country at an altitude rising gradually from 
3,800 to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. 

So conducive is the climate here to the healing of disease, that the rail- 
way company have selected Texline as the point for their hospital for 
employes, which is now being erected. Texline andFolsomare each amply 
provided with accommodations for the seeker after health, which is sure to 
be found here. 

Every breath of air is as pure and clear as the vaulted arch of bright, 
cloudless skies above, impregnated with life and health. The scenery is 
imposing, — Capaulin, an instinct volcano cone, rising majestic above the 
town of Folsom. Water, pure, cool, clear, and refreshing, is abundant, 
while all the surroundings are of a character to cheer the drooping spirits 
and revive hopes sure to be realized in complete deliverance from the blight- 
ing grasp of consumption, whose embrace is fatal in any other climate. 

After crossing the Raton Range, this Division extends northward through 
the cities of Trinidad, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Manitou to Denver, 
thus affording the seeker after health a breadth of country over three hun- 
dred miles in extent, every portion of which is embraced within the limits 
of these essential climatic influences in a greater or less degree. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. m 

HUNTING AND FISHING. 

GAME.r-Buffalo, once abundant, are now things of the past. The deer 
and the anteiope that leap the plains of Western Texas are the largest and 
best game. Fire-hunting, still-huuting. and driving with hound and horn, 
are the three modes of securing them. Wild turkeys afford a favorite sport 
to the early riser in the gobbling season of the spring. Geese, brant, and 
ducks are yet plentiful on the seashore, the rivers, and the creeks. But 
the prairie hen and the quail abound, and the markets of the leading cities 
are kept well supplied with their delicious meat. Rabbits, coons, squirrels, 
opossum, and foxes are found in all sections. Prairie dogs are plentiful, 
but are never eaten, although their meat is said to be tender and sweet, 
from the herbs they live on. The prejudice against the name doubtless 
destroys desire. 

Pish. — In Texas waters, salt and fresh, almost every fin that parts the 
waves is to be found, and few markets are better supplied than are ours 
with these swimmers of the sea and dwellers in the rivers. The red fish, 
red snapper, jew, sheephead, flounder, pompano, Spanish mackerel, rock, 
white, trout, perch, carp, buffalo, bass, cfit, eel, ai'e all to be had by the pro- 
fessional or the amateur with his rod and line. In the State there are 
numberless private ponds and tanks, where fresh water species are raised 
by the million without cost. Oysters of the finest kind are to be had all 
along the coast, and the interior is kept well supplied with them, and also 
with crabs and shrimps. 

THIS NEW EMPIRE. 

General R. A. Cameron, of Ft. Worth, the veteran Commissioner of 
Immigration, talks in this breezy, half-humorous, wholly earnest way about 
the glories of the Panhandle country: — 

" We desire to call your attention to the Panhandle of Texas, and to the 
homes of happiness, prosperity, health, and wealth offered there for a 
million people. 'Texas'. I've heard all about Texas, and don't want any 
Texas in mine!' you exclaim. Oh, yes, my friend, you've heard about 
Texas, but not all about it; neither is the Texas you've heard about and 
which you are now thinking of, the Texas we are talking about. Your 
general idea of Texas is to some extent a very erroneous one, and derived 
from a rather incomplete knowledge of the subject. The domain of the com- 
monwealth of Texas is much larger and more varied than you probably 
imagine, although you may credit it with being the largest State in the 
Union. Just take a map in your hand for a moment, and see where the 
Texas we're talking about is located. This is the new Texas — The Texas 
Panhandle — containing within its borders a greater area than either the 
State of Ohio or Pennsylvania. Until recently, this Texas has been almost 
unknown to the public at large. 

" You have heard of Oklahoma? You have beard that it is but little short 
of Paradise? Yes? Well, all you have heard is true, but you cannot get 
any more land there at present. You can occupy the Panhandle country, 
however, and it is in every essential element a part of Oklahoma. The Pan- 



W THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

handle lies just west and south of this forbidden land, and is separated from 
it only by the Red Iliver and an imaginary line. If the Oklahoma country 
were all open to settlement to-day. every available acre would be occupied 
in less than six months. The Texas Panhandle country has only within the 
past year been opened and made accessible to settlers by the building of a 
great trunk line railroad through it, from Denver, Colorado, to Fort Worth, 
Texas — from the Summit to the Sea. How long do you suppose it will be 
before the millions of acres in the Panhandle along the line of the Denver. 
Texas & Fort Worth Railroad, that can be purchased to-day at from $2 to 
$3 an acre, will bring 5^30 and none for sale at that price? ' 

"But you say, you have heard all about Texas. Y^u have heard of the 
yellow fever, dengue, malaria, swamps, alligators, cow-boys, pistols, and 
knives, and the host of other dangerous agencies which prejudice and per- 
sonal interest have located within the bounds of this great commonwealth 
to torment and terrify those who think of locating in our mild and health- 
ful climate. My friend, when you reach the Texas Panhandle, you will 
find all these vaunted terrors located still farther on In that great West, 
whose boundaries no one has yet been able to define. We have no yellow 
fever, and cannot have it, because our altitude is above that in which the 
existence of yellow fever microbes is possible; cholera, dengue, malaria, 
and consumption, too, cannot exist here. We have no wild beasts and alli- 
gators or other reptiles, and a great mistake is made when the swamps and 
barren sand-dunes so common to low lands are named as characteristics of 
the Panhandle country. You will find no swamps in countries ranging 
from 1,000 to 4,000 feet above the sea, as ours does. 

"We carry no knives or pistols, and the general tone of our civilization 
is very different from that erroneous ' wild and woolly West ' idea which 
many eastern newspapers are inclined to have of Texas. In the north and 
east they fine a man for carrying concealed weapons. We do more — we 
both fine and imprison for that offense. We build churches as fast as we 
make villages, and organize schools as soon as we have the children to 
be educated. Texas in 1887 expended $3,378,000 to support her free 
schools. You will find that our settlements compare favorably in most 
respects with the neighborhoods we left behind us in New York, Virginia, 
Iowa, or Kentucky. This country is filling up almost exclusively with 
white people, and race prejudices and antagonisms will be unknown 
among us. 

"The outside world does not begin to realize the extent and variety of 
our agricultural resources. We can raise here the hardy cereals of the north 
without the periodical visitation of blizzards and northers which the farm- 
ers of Dakota and Montana have to contend with, and many of the products 
of the more tropical south without their attendant climatic drawbacks. In 
wheat-growing our country equals Minnesota or Oregon, and our crop sells 
at home for a price within two cents of Chicago prices. We can grow as 
much corn as they do in Kansas, and of as good a quality. Sorghum. 
Johnson grass, and cotton we can raise just as well as they do in Texas 
proper, and our peach region equals that of Delaware. The grapes of the 
El Paso are no finer than those we grow. We have, in fact, to state it 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. !)7 

briefly, the soil of Oregon and the market of Ohio. For health-seekers the 
upper portion of our Panhandle country is equivalent to that of Colorado, 
and superior to that of California. 

" All we ask of you now is to come and see this new country at once, or 
club together and send one of your number to explore it for you. We are 
sure that as soon as you are well informed as to the nature and resources of 
our country, you will at once put aside all your old prejudices, which are 
due to misinformation, and gladly join with us in establishing happy homes 
in what will one day be the most prosperous and wealthy region in the 
Union." 

WAGES AND COST OF LIVING. 

The cost of living, in nearly any part of Texas, is about the same as In 
the Middle and Western States: Bacon is 8 to 10 cents per pound, beef 2 to 
6 cents, pork 4 to 7 cents, corn 30 to 50 cents per bushel, flour $2 to $3 per 
hundred pounds. Work horses sell for from $30 to ^75, mules $60 to $100, 
oxen $40 to $60 per yoke. 

Wood costs from $3.00 to $4.50 per cord (post oak shipped from the 
"cross timber" country by railroad); coal, from $4.50 to $6.00, an excellent 
article shipped from Trinidad, Colo. There is plenty of choice valley land 
to be had which fronts on the rivers or streams, and has considerable timber 
thereon. Good pine lumber for building purposes can be had for $20 per 
1,000 feet. This is shipped in from East and South Texas. 

The expense of living in Northwestern Texas and the Panhandle country 
for 

THOSE WHO BOARD 

Is not much different from otfier vStates. Hotels charge $5 to $8 per week; 
boarding houses $4 to $6. Day board may be had for from $3 to $5 per 
week. Furnished rooms can be rented at from $5 to $10 per month. House 
rents are from $8 to $15 per month for cottages of 3 to 5 rooms, or $18 to $25 
for houses of 6 to 8 rooms. 

The average wages paid per month to laborers and employes are: To 
bakers, $60; blacksmiths, $65; book-lceepers, $90; brick masons, $100; cabi- 
net makers, $70; carriage makers, $65; carpenters, $65; chair makers, $65; 
cigar makers, $65; coopers, $70; cotton and day laborers in general work, 
$20 to $35 per month; dress makers, $30; salesmen in stores, $60; tiar keepers, 
$75; engineers (stationary), $75; farm hands, with board, $17; female house 
servants, $12; female cooks, $15; male cooks $50; gardeners, $40; hotel 
clerks, $60; hatters, $05; harness makers, $65; jewelers, $100; millers, 
flouring, $90; millers, sawyers, $75; milliners, $35; moulders in iron and 
brass, $75; painters, $05; plasterers, $75; paper hangers, $75; planing and 
saw mill hands, $50; quarrymen, $45; section hands on railroads, $30; stone 
cutters, $75; stone masons, $75; telegraph operators, $60; tinners, $75; tail- 
ors, $60; wagon makers, $65; wheel wrights, $75; teachers in free schools, 
$35 to $75, according to grade. 



<)8 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

WICHITA FALLS PRICE LIST. 

The following prices are quoted from the Wichita Falls Herald for that 
place and vicinity ; 

Retail Market. — Eggs, 10 to 15 cts. per doz.; chickens, $2.50 to $3 per 
doz.; turkeys, 50 to 75 cts. each; butter, 20 to 35 cts. per lb.; cheese, 20 to 
25 cts. per lb.; beef, 5 to 15 cts. per lb.; mutton, 8 to 15 cts.; pork, 8 to 12 
cts.; sweet potatoes, 60 to 75 cts. per bu.; Irish potatoes, 75 cts. to 1 perbu.; 
native hay, $8 to $10 per ton; fresh fish — such as cat, j)erch, or bass — 6 to lo 
cts. per lb.; choice flour (from winter wheat ,grown here), .$2.25 to $2.75 per 
cwt.; coi-n meal, $1.25 per cwt.; lumber, $18 per M. for rough, and $20 to $2:^ 
for dressed and finishing. 

Furniture, farming implements, etc., may be purchased at about the 
same price as in the older States, with the addition of freight. 

The above quotations are about the average prices for 1889-90. 

The following are the prices received^by the farmers of the Wichita 
Falls country last year (1890): Wheat, 70 to 80 cts. per bu.; oats, 25 to 35 
cts.; corn, 35 to 40 cts.'; hay, $6 to $8 per ton; wool, 16 to 18 cts. per lb.; 
cotton, 8 to 93^ cts. per lb. ; Irish potatoes, 50 to 75 cts. per bu. ; sweet 
potatoes, 45 to 65 cts. 

W^HAT TO BRING WITH YOU. 

It is not necessary to bring your household goods, as furniture can 
be' obtained here at about the same price, with the freight added. The 
same is true of farming tools. However, where several families are moving 
together, and they cannot dispose of these things without loss, it might be 
well to charter a car and ship their goods together. 

It will pay to ship good improved stock to this section, as the demand 
for fine stock is rapidly increasing in Texas. ^ 

WAGES. 

The prices paid for labor in the Panhandle country and Northwest Texas 
are about as follows, although, as elsewhere, tradesmen are paid according 
to their ability: — 

Per day: Carpenters, $2.50 to $3; brick layers, $4 to $4.50; house painters. 
$3; sign painters, $3.50 to $4; day laborers, $1.50 to $2; stone cutters and 
masons, $4 to $5; plasterers, $4.50; printers, $2.50 to $3.50; blacksmiths, $3 to 
$3.,50; gunsmiths, $3.50; upholsterers, $3 to $3. .50. 

Per month: Mill hands, $35 to $50; farm hands, $18 to $29; bakers, $45 to 
$55; store clerks, $40 to $75; book-keepers, $60 to $100. 

PANHANDLE TOWNS AND PRODUCTS. 

XJolfax county. New Mexico, should be considered a part of the Panhandle 
country, being almost identical therewith in every essential element as to 
soil and production, but the surface is more rolling and somewhat broken 
in the northern part by the mountains and foothills of the Raton Range 



THE TEXAS i'AN HANDLE. !»'.i 

All the lands in New Mexico arc Government lands, and subject to entry as 
homestead. 

The country in the immediate vicinity of the mountains is picturesque as 
well as fertile, and should not be overlooked by those seeking homes in this 
nevf country. The valley of the Cimmaron is a beautiful valley that promises 
to become a great agricultural region. 

The town of Folsom is located at the head of the valley where the road 
crosses the river, and has already a population of three hundred, and rapidly 
increasing. It is a new town, which promises to be the leading town in 
Northern New Mexico. It has also been selected as the feeding and water- 
ing point for cattle in transit between Texas and the northwest. A United 
States land oflBce has been located here, and is doing a good business. A 
company has been formed to build an artificial lake, a large hotel, and some 
cottages, with the intent of making this beautiful region one of the finest 
health resorts. With a little development, the place can be made equal to 
the most popular. The extinct volcano El Capaulin is in sight of the hotel 
location. 

Clayton, nine miles from the Texas State line, has an immense area of 
agricultural territory tributary to it, and will doubtless become a city of 
thrift and importance in the near future. The climate here is mild, and laden 
with the invigorating qualities imparted by an altitude of 5,000 feet above 
the sea. 

Dallam county, Texas, is the extreme northwest county of the Panhandle. 
This county, and Hartley and Oldham, are to be considered together, and 
are each crossed by the Texae Panhandle Route. They are comprised in 
the large area known as the Capitol Syndicate Lands, and have been in the 
past given over to cattle-growing; hence but little can be said of practical 
farming. Wheat has as yet never been sown; but, should we judge from 
the appearance of the grasses, the yield from other grains, the average 
climate, the amount of rain-fall, and the results in adjoining counties, we 
would be justified in claiming that the whole region is, and we believe it 
will soon be proven to be, the wheat granary of the country. A. L. Matlock, 
Esq., Superintendent of the Capitol Syndicate Lands, tried some experi- 
ments last year at Buffalo »Springs, which wei'e entirely satisfactory. This 
was sixteen miles north of Farwell, and on new land, first planting. He 
reports 35 bushels of oats to the acre; alfalfa, 2K tons; millet, IK to 2 tons; 
sorghum, 3 tons; corn cut for fodder, 3 tons to the acre. Early potatoes 
planted April 1st yielded well, cabbage grew to weigh 26 pounds, and beets 
15 pounds. He had an abundance of carrots and parsnips, and melons, 
squashes and pumpkins grew to enormous size. Among the trees that are 
doing well are the locust, box elder, ash, cottonwood and catalpa. Wheat 
is being tested this year, and promises well. 

Texline is a new town on the line of the railroad, just as you cross the 
border and enter Texas from New Mexico. It has a number of buildings 
and an excellent hotel. 

Hartley, which is to be the county seat of Hartley county, is another new 
town, having a hotel, stores and residences. It is the supply point for Cold 
Water. Sherman and the towns in tbp northern Panhandle. If the rnmber- 



100 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

laud Presbyterians of Illinois and Iowa carry out their present plans of im- 
proving the rSineral spring just four miles from the town, they will make 
of it a great summer resort for their Chautauqua. 

There are several good towns on the line of this road, which will, in the 
very near future, be the center of fine agricultural communities. Tascosa, 
the county seat of Oldham county, and the seat of government for all the 
organized counties adjoining, is one of the oldest towns in the Panhandle, 
having been laid out in 1876. It is located in the valley of the Canadian 
Eiver. They have a fine court-house, a stone structure,'* costing $18,000. 
This bright little town has for years been the outfitting point for the various 
ranch head-quarters within a radius of one hundred miles. 

Cheyenne is one of those towns that have their success assured if they 
are properly pushed. Here is a natural site for a town, and it is being 
utilized. Cheyenne Creek, a beautiful and swift-running stream, flows 
through the town. When the men with energy and money come along, 
Cheyenne comes to the front. 

Potter county is one of the central counties of the Panhandle. The 
Canadian River flows through the center of it, and, with its many tribu- 
taries, makes It one of the best-watered counties in North Texas. The 
surface is somewhat broken by reason of so many streams, which average 
in length from five to twenty miles, forming valleys of the choicest agricult- 
ural lands, while the slight elevations between afford good grazing lands 
which are covered with a heavy growth of native grassess. This county is 
peculiarly adapted to dairy farming; the native grasses ar*? equal for graz- 
ing to any in the world, and the native hay has no superior in Kentucky or 
elsewhere; the atmosphere is pure and the water excellent; gurgling springs 
of clear, cool water are found in all directions; in fact, those who are quali- 
fied to judge of such matters pronounce Potter county the "dairyman's 
paradise." The railroad will carry the dairy products to all parts of the 
world, and at all seasons of the year. But few farms have as yet been cul- 
tivated in this county, situated, as it has been, in the center of the great 
cattle region; but those few have shown the good quality of the soil and its 
capability of producing crops of corn and immense crops of small grain — 
wheat, rye, oats; garden vegetables of all kinds also grow in abundance. 
The pumpkin, squash, melon, and kindred species yield largely, growing 
almost without cultivation. 

Plum trees, grapes and berries grow wild along every creek, the grapes 
bearing in every season such quantities of large close clusters as to break 
down the branches of the trees on which they hang. This tends to show 
that as a fruit-growing country, this can be excelled by none. 

Potter county has 600,000 acres of fine lands, three-fourths of which is 
agricultural land of the best quality, with 450 sections of school lands now 
upon the market for actual settlers. What greater inducements can there 
be for one who is seeking a home, when this land is offered him at $2 per 
acre, and that, too, on forty years' time ? 

The county has built its court-house, has purchased the best set of rec- 
ords in the West, and more than all, is out of debt. Its assessed valuation 
of S2, 000,000 for the year 1888, and its low rate of taxation of 60 cents on 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 101 

the $10,000, places it in the front rank of the Panhandle country in point <;f 
finances. Set apart for the exclusive use of the public schools of iiii.s 
county are 17,000 acres of land, which, when sold and augmented by the 
general State school fund, will give every facilitydesirablefor the education 
of children. 

Amirillo, the county seat of Potter county, has now a population of seven 
hundred. Being situated on the crest of the lower plains, it has one of the 
most beautiful locations of any town on the line of the road, and gives 
promise of being a town equal to the important position given it, in the 
heart of a fine agricultural country. Col. Sanborn, one of the enterprising 
men of Texas, has erected a charming hotel, costing some $30,000, and 
Amarillo (pronounced Am-a-re-a in Spanish) is already a successful summer 
resort. The Palo Duro Caiion, with its 300 feet walls, its cedar groves and 
waterfalls, is only tv/elve miles distant. The M. E. Church have located a 
college here, which in the near future will make Amarillo an educational as 
well as a health center. 

Armstrong county is rapidly taking place among the leading counties of 
the State since it has been rendered accessible by the Panhandle Route, 
which traverses its entire length diagonally. - The most of this county is a 
rolling prairie, and the ssoil is a rich dark brown or black of great depth, 
giving assurance of bountiful harvests, without resorting to fertilization, 
for ages to come. This has been pronounced by farmers to be a wheat 
county in every essential element. The land which has been cultivated at 
the headquarters of the large ranches justifies the opinion. This county is 
well v/atered with running streams and lakes scattered over the country, 
which insures plenty of water for the settler in all seasons. The breaks of 
the Palo Duro are heavily wooded with an immense growth of magnificent 
cedars, and timber of fair quality is found in other breaks. The county is 
attached to Donley for taxation and judicial purposes. Prohibition is in 
force, with no probability of the ordinance ever being repealed, judging 
from the class of immigrants and settlers now here and coming into this and 
the other counties composing the district. 

Washburn is a new town, located at the junction of the Panhandle City 
branch with the main line, and is the geographical center of the Panhandle. 
This point is the natural gateway from Southern Kansas to the whole of the 
Panhandle country, as traversed by the Texas Panhandle Route. The con- 
tour of the country westward is such that the various lines of railway pro- 
jected across this country will of necessity be built through this vicinity. 
This fact will influence a very large immigration to this country. It is in 
the mid;5t of the lower plains country — the grandest expanse of fertile 
prairie that^the human mind can conceive. 

Claude is another promising town of this country, now rapidly growing, 
and has the advantage of a central location. So rapidly is this country grow- 
ing that we fear to promise State lands to home-seekers many months hence. 
Donley is the best watered county in the Panhandle, both in the abund- 
ance of surface water, ever-flowing springs, and easily accessible well 
water, all of which issoft and pure. The Middle Fork of Red River courses 
through this county, -fed by numerous unfailing springs of freestone water. 



U)2 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

There are twenty-six creeks in the county flowing through the 150,000 
(estinnated) acres of State lands awaiting occupation. The soil on the slopes 
on the prairie and valleys is more sandy, and of a nature better adapted for 
the production of fruit and vegetables. Farming has been carried on to a con- 
siderable extent for the last four years, and has proved quite successful. 
There has not been a single year in the four that rain has not fallen in 
sufdcient quantity to make good crops of small grain, sorghum, millet, and 
vegetables. The soil of the plains, which extends over quite a considerable 
poi'tion of the county, is deep, fertile, and well adapted to raising small 
grain. It is estimated that 4,000 acres of land were cultivated in the 
county in 1887. The season was the driest that has ever been known. The 
yield was remarkable, corn averaging 30 bushels per acre; wheat, 15 bushels 
per acre; oats, 40 bushels per acre; and millet, 3 tons per acre. Irish pota- 
toes, sweet potatoes, and vegetables, especially root crops, yield abundantly. 

"Old Clarendon," the first county seat, is prettily located in the valley of 
the Salt Fork. It was settled about ten years ago, and was the only town 
in the county until the railroad was built through, and a new town estab- 
lished on the road about five miles south of the old one, to which all the 
business of the old town, including the court-house and jail, have been 
removed. The new town bears the name of the 'old one, and occupies a 
favorable location on a prairie, surrounded by low hills. Clarendon has 
been enjoying a healthy boom ever since it has been a town, and it will no 
doubt continue to prosper and hold its own among the best towns on the 
road, for several reasons, chief among which, periiaps, is that it is the 
county seat of a county that has been partially settled for several years, 
and is now rapidly settling up with a good class of settlers. In the 
next place, to add to its importance as a railroad town, the company have 
made it the end of both passsenger and freight divisions, and located a 
large round-house and repair shops, which will give constant employment to 
a number of men, who, with their families, will help swell the population 
of the place. Still another reason is that the business men of this place 
are of that progressive, liberal-minded sort that give momentum to a new 
town and keep the wheels turning after it is once started. 

The line of the road crosses the northwest corner of Hall county. A 
great deal of this county has been occupied for stock range, but it has a 
large area of agricultural land in it. The soil is a red sandy loam, making 
a deep and lasting soil for agricultural purposes. The grasses are princi- 
pally sedge and mesquite, and a very rich grass growing about the ponds 
and dry lakes on the prairies. Active settlement is going on at a rapid 
rate. It is watered by the Palo Duro, or Prairie Dog Town Fork of Red 
River, which flows from west to east across the county, and by Mulberry, 
Morgan's, and Berkley creeks. These streams are constant in their water 
supply. At present this county is attached to Donley for taxation and judi- 
cial purposes, but an early separate organization is anticipated. The towns 
of Salisbury and Newlin are located in this county, which is as yet unor- 
ganized, and Salisbury will in all probability be the county seat. It already 
has a number of business houses and residences, and some two or three 
hundred inhabitants. The beauty of its location, surrounded as it is by a 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 1(W 

few pietiiresque hills, attracts the attention of the passer-by. The altitude, 
2,000 feet, while high enough for all lu'actical health purposes, is not too high 
for persons troubled with heart diseases. 

Childress county has within her borders State school land to the extent 
of over 100,000 acres, which are being rapidly settled. The surface is 
mostly rolling prairie, with numerous fertile valleys thi'ough which the 
streams flow, and lies at an altitude of 1,700 feet above the level of the sea; 
it is watered by Red River and numerous creeks of lasting water. There 
is no barren land in the county, the major portion being suitable for agri- 
cultural purposes. The soil is red sandy and chocolate-colored free loam, 
and the hills and breaks or " grazing lands" are well set with mesquite and 
black gramma grass. Farming was carried on to some extent last year, suf- 
ficiently to demonstrate the fact that wheat, oats, millet, sorghum, and 
vegetables of all sorts will grow to perfection, while plums and grapes grow 
wild in great abundance. Childress, the county seat, is a young town, its 
existence only dating back about two years. The town occupies a pretty 
location on a high prairie overlooking fertile valleys and verdant slopes. 
It is rapidly building up, and will soon be a town of considerable impor- 
tance. Being the county seat, it is attracting the attention of home-seekers 
and capitalists far and wide. It will also be the most convenient railroad 
point for settlers and ranchmen in adjoining counties, both north and south. 
It will progress with, the settlement of the country, up the line of the 
railroad. 

Hardeman county is extensively settled by farmers, farming having 
been carried on to a considerable extent for about four years ; the number 
of acres in cultivation has been increased each year during that time, 
owing to the success which attended the first experiments. Fully three- 
fourths of the county is agricultui-al land. The soil varies in color and 
condition from a red sandy loam in the river bottoms to a chocolate and 
black soil on the prairie and creek valleys. This diversity of soil adapts 
the country to the production of a variety of crops that have been tested 
with favorable results. In late years the different crops, as near as can 
be estimated, yielded as follows: Oats, 45 bushels per acre; wheat, 25 
bushels i^er acre ; corn, 35 bushels per acre ; millet, 3 tons per acre. 
Sorghum, Egyptian corn, and vegetables of all sorts, and especially those 
of the vine and root species, produce very abundantly. As near as can 
be estimated, thei-e are about 20,000 acres of wheat now growing in the 
county, and a more flattering prospect for a bountiful harvest was never 
seen anywhere. The area of the county is 854,400 acres, several thou- 
sand acres of which are school land that has not yet been taken up, and 
which can be purchased at from two to three dollars per acre. The coun- 
try is well watered by the Pease, Red and Wichita Rivers and numerous 
creeks. 

Quanah is the railroad town of the surrounding country. It is situated 
near the center of the county, and was started in the summer of 1886. The 
location of Quanah is one that cannot be excelled ; it is built upon a prairie 
just sufficiently rolling to be easily drained. The soil is a dark loam, with 



104 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

enough adhesiveness abont it to canso the streets to pack in such a-solid 
condition that very little dust or sand is blown about in dry, windy weather, 
and there is enough sand to prevent them from becoming disagreeably 
sticky during wet weather. 

The country surrounding the town for several miles in all directions is 
composed almost entirely of agricultural land of unsurpassed fertility. 
The town is almost surrounded by beautiful valleys, through which flow 
streams with an abundance of ever-flowing water confined within rocky 
bluff's and high banks, and having a sufficient fall to make it a splendid 
water-power for the mills and factories that this and the adjoining counties 
will need and be able to support in a few years. There is an abundance of 
good building rock within three miles of the place, and a fine quality of 
brick clay can be found within half a mile, and in the near future there 
will be many permanent stone and brick buildings erected. 

We hardly think any town is growing as fast at this writing as Quanah. 
But the time will soon come when lots and lands will get too high, and then 
the interest will be farther up the road. 

We cannot pass Hardeman county without mentioning her copper depos- 
its in the south part of the county. A very extensive association was 
formed a number of years ago in New York and New Jersey, of which Gen. 
McClellan was made president, to work these deposits, but up to date no 
further work or development has been done. 

Wilbarger county, in the fall of 1887, obtained first premium on wheat 
at the Texas State Fair, and from that day all eyes have been turned 
toward that region. The county is old enough to have some good farmers, 
who report the following yield per acre of small grain, etc.: Corn, 53 
bushels; oats, 87 bushels; wheat, 36 bushels; millet, 37 bushels; and of cot- 
ton, 1 bale. Therii is but little timber, except on the streams. Mesquite 
and buffalo grass cover the country where not turned by the plow. 

Chillicothe is a new town on the line of Hardeman and Wilbarger coun- 
ties. The lands about it are universally spoken of as the most beautiful 
the sun ever shone upon. 

Vernon, the county seat, at the crossing of the railway with the Great 
Texas cattle trail leading to the northwest, has a population of 2,857, and 
is the distributing point for the adjacent portion of Texas and the Indian 
Territory. It has good banking facilities and hotel accommodations, and 
contains many substantial buildings. A handsome brick structure has 
been erected for a court-lumse, jail, and county offices, at a cost of .1p50,000. 
It has a good roller flouring mill, of 200-barrcl capacity, some fine churches, 
and considerable capital. It has grown rapidly, increasing nearly 3,000 in 
two yeai-s. It is the largest town to-day between Decatur and Trinidad. 
Its rapid growth can be traced to good advertising. 

Between Vernon and Harrold is the new town of Oklaunion (which is to 
be re-naraed Wilbarger) in the center of the fine country we are speaking of, 
where the road crosses the Red River into the Indian Territory. It is a 
place of promise, but it needs pushing. 

The town of Harrold is centrally located in the county, and contains a 
population of about 500. With the growth of the surrounding country it 
will become a fine business point. 

The energetic town of Wichita Falls has been mentioned in the descrip- 
tion of Wichita county. The valley of the Wichita is one of great beauty 
and fertility, and has become famous for its crops. Wichita county 
received first premium for wheat at the State Fair at Dallas, on October 23, 
1889, and again at the International Fair at San Antonio, in competition 
with all the United States and Mexico, on November 13, 1889. It is now 
considered that this Panhandle country is the equal, as an average all-around 
wheat country, of any country on the face of the earth. 

Iowa Park is a new colony town, ten miles west of Wichita Falls, on the 
line of the railroad. The location is beautiful, and its people are full of 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 105 

thrift and ambition. It has secured the location of a college, which is to 
be erected by the Methodist Episcopal church. It has a good hotel of 
which it can be justly proud. 

Beaver, sixteen miles west of Iowa Park, promises some day to become 
a village of importance. 

Clay county is traversed by the railroad diagonally through its center, 
and has a sixty-mile frontage on the Red River, besides which it is watered 
by the Big and Little Wichitas and their tributaries, affording an abund- 
ance of water for stock and farming purposes. About one-fourth of its 
large area of 718,080 acres is covered by oak, pecan, ash, cottonwood, hack- 
berry, and other timbers. Nearly five-sixths of the area is good farming 
land, the soil being generally a deep red loam on the prairie, and a choco- 
late loam in the valleys. Springs are numerous, and good wells can be had 
at a depth of twenty-five feet. This was long considered one of the best 
stock-raising countries. Lands are cheap as yet, wild land being obtain- 
able at from four to seven dollars per acre. The yield per acre is as 
follow^ Cotton, }4 to three-quarters of a bale; corn, 40 to 60 bushels; 
'wheat, 20 to 40 bushels; oats, 50 to 90 bushels. Peaches, apricots, pears, 
apples, plums, and grapes are being cultivated very successfully. It is 
thought by those who have been experimenting with them, that grapes 
will, in the near future, be one of the principal products. Texas pecans 
are the finest in the world, and command the highest price in all markets. 
Dewberries and blackberries also grow of fine quality and in paying 
quantities 

There are thirty-two school districts in Clay county, twenty-eight of 
which have excellent schools in good and comfortable school buildings, fur- 
nished with modern furniture and the latest and most approved school 
books. The county has voted a special school tax, enabling them to main- 
tain the schools from eight to ten months in the year. The schools will 
compare favorably with any in the State, and are not far behind the best 
common schools of the older States. There is a magnificent high school 
building at Henrietta, which is justly the pride of the people. The build- 
ing and furniture cost .S14,500, and there is an attendance of 350 pupils. 
Heurietta, the county seat, is the principal town in the county, with a pop- 
ulation of 3,000; it is beautifully situated on a sightly and healthful eleva- 
tion one and a half miles from the Little Wichita River, on the line of the 
railroad, ninety-six miles northwest of Fort Worth. A $40,000 court-house 
has been completed about two years, and is the.ornament and pride of the 
town and county. 

Montague county comprises an area covered by 570,240 acres of level or 
undulating uplands, diversified by broad valleys and high, rolling prairies. 
A belt of woodland, about 15 miles in width, known as the Upper Cross 
Timbers, runs nearly north and south through this county, and consists 
Qtiefly' of post oak, hickory, and black-jack. Along the Red River and 
other streams is a heavy growth of water-oak, walnut, pecan and cotton- 
wood. The country is about equally divided between timber and prairie, 
and is somewhat broken, bordering the streams tributary to Red River, but 
the valleys skirting these small streams are very productive, the soil being 
a rich alluvial, sandy loam. It is separated from the beautiful Indian Ter- 
ritory only by the Red River. The county is well-watered, and is espe- 
cially adapted to agriculture and stock-raising combined. The mean annual 
rain-fall is 30.23 inches, and is usually so distributed that protracted 
drouths are uncommon. About four-fifths ot this county is susceptible of 
profitable cultivation. 

Bowie is a thriving town. Many fine farms have been opened up. The 
extensive prairie on the west furnishes a fine supply of pasturage and hay, 
a large quantity of which is shipped fi'om this point. The surrounding 
country is especially adapted to farming and stock-raising combined. The 
people are live and energetic, striving to advance the material interests and 
welfare of this city, and to make it second to none in the county. There 



10") THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

are already established over seventy-five business firms, all of whom are 
doing welf, perhaps, as like enterprises in older cities. 

The town of Sunset is situated in the southwestern part of Montague 
county, sixty miles north of Fort Worth, and is one of the most healthy and 
picturesque locations to be found along the line. It is surrounded by as 
fine agricultural lands as are to be found anywhere in the State. The 
town is supplied with wells of never-failing water, as pure as can be found 
in any of the old States. Timber for fuel is cheap, and the supply sufficient 
for all purposes. First-class pine lumber can be bought here from $16 to 
$18 per thousand. A fine sandstone quarry is being opened up only one 
and one-half miles from the town, affording the finest building material in 
the world at a nominal price. The farmers in this vicinity are enjoying a 
degree of prosperity never before attained in this county. Sunset mer- 
chants and business men have done a prosperous and lucrative business in 
all the various branches of trade — not a single failure having occurred in 
two j^ears — and the town and surrounding country has continued to thrive 
and improve in a wonderful degree. There is nowhere a more happy and,, 
contented people, with brighter prospects for future prosperity, than in this 
portion of Montague count5^ 

Sunset is about the center of one of the finest fruit regions to be found 
anywhere. The peach, grape, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, blackberry, and 
even the apple yield abundantly, and qH commence bearing early. The 
tomato, SAveet potato, and watermelon yield immensely, and are very 
profitable. A canning factory is being built to use up the surplus not ship- 
ped to the mountain market. 

Sunset has another strong attraction in the shape of very superior min- 
eral springs, for the "Texas Wells Water" is famous over all the State. 

The newly-discovered Texas Wells at Sunset, Texas, are nearly anal- 
ogous to the "waters of Kreuznach and Homburg, Germany. There is but 
one other well like this in the United States and one in Canada, and, with 
one or two exceptions, this new well is the strongest of all mineral waters 
in the world. 

The curative qualities of these wells and springs depend largely upon 
the calcium chloride they contain. The Kreuznach waters have 13.3 grains 
to the pint ; the Homburg has 10.6 grains to the pint, and the Texas Wells 
116.2 grains to the gallon. [See the United States Dispensatory.] Kreuz- 
nach water cures Strumous diseases (consumption), affections of the skin, 
rheumatism, enlargement of the abdominal and pelvic organs, hepatic 
disease, etc. All of these things, as far as we yet know, belong to the 
analogous Texas Wells waters. 

The Texas Wells are the best located of any mineral spring in the 
whole South. It is on the great Union Pacific road, half way between 
Denver and New Orleans. It is only fifty-nine miles from Fort Worth, 
eighty from Dallas, and 400 from Galveston. It has an altitude of more 
than 1,000 feet, and is far above Galveston, Houston, Dallas, Austin and 
Fort Worth, both in altitude and latitude. So it is to be by necessity the 
summer resort of Texas and Louisiana, as it will be, on account of its lati- 
itude, the winter resort for the whole Union Pacific system. 

One should see the peaches, apples and watermelons in the market here. 
The tenderest of chickens are on the tables of the hotels here three times a 
daj'. Such rich, sweet milk is not found in greater abundance than here. 

The country around Sunset is a hunter's paradise ; quail are found by 
the thousands, and on lakes near by ducks and wild geese in the winter 
season. There is also excellent fishing. 

The situation of the Texas Wells is delightful. It is on the very crest 
of the country, and from the company's property one can get a view of 
Decatur, twenty-one miles away.' From a beautiful sandstone hill some 330 
feet above the country (called by courtesy Lookout Mountain) we can see 
objects, it is believed, some thirty miles distant. Rocks, ravines and petit 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 107 

canons exist in such numbers as to make beautiful drives and lovely ram- 
bles, and more than half the propertj' is well wooded. "There are no 
marshes, no swamps and no malaria. In going to the Texas Wells to get 
well one does not get sick. Everything is in favor of the invalid. In fact, 
there is no better climate, no more pleasant place to live, no healthier sec- 
tion, and no more curative water on the face of God's green earth — Saratoga 
and Manitou are the places it is to rival. While most of hundreds of wells 
and springs in' the United States lack some of the essential element of 
success, Texas Wells lacks no essential requirement. 

Since the discovery of these remarkable wells hundreds of people have 
been cured of a long fist of diseases. In fact, hardly any one has been to 
Texas AVells without returning revived. 

The Texas Panhandle Route enters Wise county near the northwest 
corner, and crosses it diagonally, leaving near the southeast corner. The 
eastern portion is similar to Tarrant in character of soil. It contains 
27,000 population, and 676,000 acres, the county being 30 miles square. 
Along the line of the railroad, in the western portion, is considerable tim- 
ber and a light, sandy soil. 

The general elevation of the surface is 1,000 feet, sufficient for health* 
fulness and a protection against extreme heat and cold. Lands are one- 
half cheaper than in Tarrant county, by reason of distance from Fort 
Worth, not from inferiority ; and unimproved lands may be had from $4.00 
per acre up. The county has sixty-five schools in operation, with 6,000 
scholars. Decatur is the county seat. 

Ft. Worth has eleven railroads, and one more is being constructed, forty- 
eight miles of macadamized streets, forty-two miles of sewer, thirty-two 
miles of electric car line, electric light plants, gas works, and Holly water- 
works. Her grain elevators have a capacity of 850,000 bushels, her flour- 
ing mills a capacity of 1,500 barrels a day. There are eight national banks, 
with a capital of $2,600,000. Ft. Worth has the finest Board of Trade 
building in the southwest, and has churches whose architectural beauty 
surprises every northern man who sees them. 

Since the completion of the Texsks Panhandle Route, a wonderful devel- 
opment has taken place in Ft. Worth. Her population in 1880 was 7,000, 
now it is 23,076. The assessed value of property in the city for 1888 
was $8,500,000; for the year 1889, $16,300,000, a gain in one year of 
nearly 100 per cent. Theincrease in the volume of business has kept pace 
with the growth in values. The bank clearings for the first eight months 
of 1888 were $20,027,418 ; for the same period of 1889, $36,110,640, a gain oi 
BO. 3 per cent. For 0<!tober, 1889, the gain was 206.3 per cent, over October, 
1888. No other city in the United States can show such a development. 

The Ft. AVorth people sustain a Board of Trade, which is reaching out 
everywhere for manufactoi'ies and population. Last year they erected the 
Texas Spring palace, the most complete thing of its kind ever conceived. 
It is a world of wonder and an intensely interesting object lesson. At these 
May exhibitions, one can find, grouped under their proper heads, all the 
wonderful i-esources of the Panhandle country. 

CONCLUSION. 

The country between Ft. AVorth and the State line, on the line of the 
Texas Panhandle Routes is a remarkably productive one, as far as it has 
been settled and developed. In the first two counties, AA'ise and Mon- 
tague, while wheat, oats, and corn are valuable crops, cotton is the leading 
crop. In AVise county the amount of cotton to be shipped this year is 
about 19,000 bales, which at $50 a bale would make $950,000. Montague 
county will ship about 25,000 bales, which at $50 a bale, wOuld amount to 
one and a quarter million dollars. Cotton pays in Clay county, but fails 
to pay in Wichita county, where the shipment will be only 250 bales- 



103 THE TEXAS PAfTHANDLE. 

In Wichita county, wheat becomes the most prominent crop. This last 
year, the wheat crop is estimated at 337,000 bushels. In "Wilbarger, the 
next county, the wheat crop for last year is estimated at 315,000. As 
the average now sown is about three times that of the previous year, we 
can put down each of these counties for three quarters of a million bushels. 
In Hardeman county, last year was practically the first when any decided 
steps had been taken to raise crops. The wheat yield was about 35,000 
bushels, and the amount now sown is four times as great as last year. Both 
oats and corn are good crops as far west as Montague county. Oats is a 
good crop as far as Childress county, and it is expected that wheat .will 
prove a good crop as far as Texline. 

For the country north of the Canadian River, sorghum is repommended 
as a sure fodder crop, and milo-maize a sure grain crop. Milo-maize is an 
excellent food for horses, hogs, and poultry. In this upper region (where 
the rainfall diminishes as one recedes from the Gulf) Bermuda grass is 
recommended. It stands dry weather and tramping, and is calculated for 
pasture land when the buffalo, gramma and mesquite grasses are being 
tramped out. The great fodder plant for the upper plains region is un- 
doubtedly Johnson grass. It stands the drought and can be cut two or three 
times a year. It is a dwarf sorghum plant, and is well liked by horses and 
cattle, and, if cut at the right time, is eaten up clean. The prejudice exist- 
ing against it is without foundation, the argument being that once in the 
ground nothing will kill, and there is no way of getting rid of it. There 
are places in Texas where, when there is grown four tons of good Johnson 
grass annually, no one should ask to get rid of it. It can be killed, however, 
if it should become necessary. 

The enormous settlement of the Panhandle country last year, estimated 
at 60,000, is due to two causes, — one, the put*ting of the facts before the public; 
the other, its health, productiveness and fine market. 

This is the healthiest country, all kinds of diseases considered, in the 
world, free from malaria, yellow or other fevers of the coast; free from con- 
sumption and pneumonia. The soil is a limestone base, and the altitude is 
like that of Kentucky, which produced Lincoln, Henry Clay, Breckenridge, 
Tom Marshall, Prentice and a host of men of brains and ability. Like the 
blue-grass region of Kentucky, it has no sick horses, cattle, swine or poultry. 
Everybody and everything keeps well. . 

In production, it brings the largest average and the best quality of wheat 
of any country, whether in Europe or America. It produces no 60-bushel 
crops of wheat, but it keeps up everywhere, and nearly every year, to an 
average of 23 bushels, or two bushels more than Colorado, the banner State 
of the Union for wheat. 

Wichita county is 400 miles from an ocean market, while Chicago is 
1,000. Wichita county is 600 miles from Denver (the best market for fruit 
and vegetables on the continent); Chicago is 1,100 miles from Denver. 

With Denver at one end and Ft. Worth at the other, the man who set- 
tles on the Texas Panhandle Route gets on one of the great railroads of 
the country. 

Think on these things. Then act promptly, if you expect to get your 
choice of the cheap lands. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 109 



THROUGH TEXAS. 



During the month of August, 1892, Mr. Walter B. Stevens, Special 
Correspondent of the St. Louis Glohe-Democrat, made a tour of the Texas 
Panhandle, writing a series of letters for his paper, entitled "Through 
Texas." The keen observation and lucid statement of fact, together with 
the absolute impartiality which characterizes these letters, places them 
above the mere current comment of newspaper correspondence. They are 
invaluable guides to intending settlers, because they are reliable and 
unbiased. 



"the progress op the ' NESTER ' ACROSS THE PANHANDLE PASTURES. 

SYMPTOMS OP A HEALTHY REACTION — THE gfORY OF A COWMAN's 

BLUFF — A PRAIRLE-DOG PROBLEM. 

[Special Correspondence of the Globe- Democrat.] 

" In the Panhandle, Texas, August 2, 1892. 

" The Panhandle has raised another grain crop. The figures are not 
all in. But the estimate at the Fort Worth Board of Trade is a crop of 
6,500,000 bushels of wheat. Oats and Barley will go 3,000,000 more. As 
for the corn, that is beyond guessing. Gen. Clark, of the Fort Worth 
Board of Trade, said : ' The corn crop of Texas this year will be phenom- 
enal. We have thousands of acres that will give seventy-five bushels to 
the acre.' 

" On the Hoxie farm, near Taylor, in Williamson county. Central Texas 
there have just been threshed out 30,000 bushels of oats, and there will be 
70,000 bushels of corn. The rest of the country does not know how rap- 
idly Texas is forging ahead as a grain State. Not one out of a hundred 
Texans appreciate what is going on in this direction. Who ever heard of 
Texas barley? Last winter a Fort Worth man went around and induced 
some of the farmers to try barley. One of them, a Mr. Clanahan, put in 
500 acres. He has harvested his crop, and it yields him $24 per acre, or 
$12,000 on his experiment. A malt-house is being built at Fort Worth, and 
500,000 bushels of barley are wanted for the first year. The Hoxie farm, 
will put in 500 acres of this new grain for Texas next season. The average 
yield of barley in the experimental fields this year has been fifty bushels, 
and the St. Louis price is being paid in Fort Worth ; where the grain is 
wanted for home consumption. 



110 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

" This is not a good grain year for Texas. It is the poorest in five years. 
In the Panhandle the wheat crop is spoken of as a failure. That is because 
the Panhandle farmer considers anything lessthan twelve bushels a failure. 
The season has been erratic in Texas as it has been in other parts of the 
country. Some farmers have got eight bushels; some have got fifteen 
bushels. Here and there a report of the threshing shows twenty and 
twenty-five bushels. But the average is lower than it has been for the 
five years which have elapsed since the discovery of the grain-growing- 
capacity of the Panhandle. And so these farmers call it a failure. 

"That jog of Texas which runs up north between Indian Territory on 
the east and New Mexico on the west is the Panhandle proper. It is 
larger than most States. By common consent the name has been extended 
to the great body of chocolate-colored loam which constitutes the red 
lands. The Panhandle, as originally applied, was a day's ride from Fort 
Worth. The Panhandle as comprehended to-day is reached a couple of 
hours after leaving ' The Fort.' And then the traveler is in it for the rest 
of the day and most of the night. 

"The revolution in the Panhandle has been a quick one. The first 
thresher brought into the new wheat country was an old ten horse-power 
from Illinois. It is still running near Wichita Falls. The man who came 
on with this thresher says th^t the first year after his arrival he didn't 
find a field which yielded less than seventeen bushels an acre. He did 
the threshing for a whole county. That was six years ago. This season 
it was possible to see eight reapers marching en echelon across one wheat 
field in the same county. The farmer who furnished such a pageant had 
1,500 acres in wheat out of 4,000 acres for which he paid $10 an acre. Up 
and down the Wichita Valley, which is part of this new wheat country, 
can be seen ascending the smoke of a score of steam threshers, although 
this is a failure season. At Wichita Falls there are three flouring mills 
and three elevators. One of these mills turns out 500 barrels of flour a 
day, A new mill of 200 barrels capacity and a new elevator of 100,000 
bushels room are nearing completion to help take care of a crop which is a 
failure. Last year these mills at Wichita Falls ran night and day from 
harvest to harvest. And then enough M'^heat to have kept three such mills 
running was shipped away. In two months last year the farmers of 
adjoining counties received $750,000 at Vernon for the wheat they hauled 
in. 

" ' In 1867,' said Mr. L. P. Goodeil, a Fort Worth business man, ' I 
went into Minnesota. When I came to Texas I thought I had never seen 
two countries look so much alike as Minnesota and the Panhandle, before 
either had been developed. You know they used to say in those days we 
couldn't raise anything in Minnesota, just as they said only five years ago 
no crops would grow in the Panhandle.' 

" Here was a strong motive for the assertion that the Panhandle would 
not grow crops. When the Comanche moved out of this region the cow- 
man moved in. He had great influence in Texas at that time. He could 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. Ill 

go to Austin and convince the State government that whole counties in the 
Panhandle should be classified as grazing land. The law of the State 
limits the buyer of agricultural land to a section, a mile square, ^^ut it 
allows the buyer of grazing land to buy in his own name seven sections 
upon extremely favorable terms, and it doesn't raise any technicality if 
every member of the family also takes seven sections. The cowmen took 
possession of the Panhandle. They bought in blocks of seven, at 50c and 
$1 an acre. The school lands which they couldn't buy they leased from 
t'.ie State and fenced in with their great pastures. Then came alonj; the 
man with a hoe. He looked at the red lands, chocolate-colored wfien 
moist and like brick dust when dry. He manifested an inclination to stir 
up the soil and see what it would do. The cowmen resented this as an 
intrusion. They called the man with the hoe a ' nester.' That was 
because he would buy a piece of the school land and settle right down in 
the middle of a big pasture, making it necessary to allow roadways and to 
build gates for him. As the Comanche felt toward the cowman, so the 
cowman felt toward the nester. But it was evolution. The cowman might 
frighten the nester away to-day. The next day there were two men with 
hoes looking over the same wire fence. The two men might be induced 
by argument to believe that there was nothing in it for them. On the 
third day four men with hoes were at the barbed-wire fence. The cow- 
boys whooped it up pretty lively for the original nester. The cowman 
argued and made discouraging laws for the two nesters. When the four 
men with hoes arrived, the cowman hired smooth talkers to help convince 
them that agriculture was impossible in the Panhandle. Perhaps this is 
the only new country where such efforts were made to keep people out. 
Men received salaries to tell new-comers that farming was impossible. 
They made it their business for pay to discourage irnmigratiqn. Strangers 
on the trains and in the new towns were sought out. They were told that 
nothing would grow, and if anything did grow the prairie dogs would eat 
it up. This wasn't a very good article of logic. Perhaps the man with 
the hoe thought so. At any rate he wasn't altogether convinced. He 
hung around. He said he'd give the red land a whirl. As for the prairie 
dog, the man with the hoe said that while waiting for his first crop he 
would make war on that festive little animal which sat upon its hind legs 
and laughed a file-scraping ' he-he-he ' at him as he went by. If the tick- 
ling of the soil hadn't turned out better than the war on the prairie dog, 
the Panhandle wouldn't be crossed and cris-crossed by Avheat fields to-day. 
The idea of the man with the hoe was to sell the skins of the prairie dogs 
to the glove manufacturer and the canned meat to Chinamen. The New 
York glove manufacturer accepted one consignment of skins and quit. 
The Chinaman declined the meat with a 'no mooche.' The prairie dog 
industry suddenly and severely languished. 

" But the experiment with the soil— that was altogether different. The 
Wichita Valley is a part of the Panhandle. From the Wichita river 
stretches a bottom several miles wide and as level as the famous Red River 
Vallej' of the North. In this valley was made the notable experiment 



112 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

which knocked out the cowmen's double-barreled argument. John 
Howard put in 400 acres of oats, corn and millet. The result was a crop 
which startled the whole Panhandle. The prairie dogs didn't eat half an 
acie oi the 400. In fact they showed their disgust at the turned-over sod 
and moved on, thereby setting the cowmen a lesson. Not one prairie dog 
is seen now where there were a thousand before. The season following 
the object lesson everybody went to planting. The 400 acres bought for $5 
an acre was sold for $13. It was divided into smaller farms and sold again 
for $20. A couple of years after the experimental crop came the discovery 
thai; the red lands with a world of gypsum undei'neath was a natural wheat 
country. That settled the issue between the cowman and the man with a 
hoe. In the picturesque language of a pioneer, 'it decided that the Pan- 
handle was to be no longer the land of the longhorns and h —11.' 



" TWENTY-BUSHEL WHEAT IN PLACE OF TWENTY -ACRE COW BRUTE. A 

CATTLE king's TESTIMONY — PANHANDLE SURPRISES — THE 

ROMANCE OF GRAIN FARMING. 

*' In the Panhandle of Texas, August 3, 1892. 

" Charles Goodnight is the greatest of the Panhandle cattle kings. His 
ranch is far beyond the red lands where wheat grows. It is up in the 
Panhandle proper, upon the Staked Plains. But the tide of farming 
immigration has flowed almost to the Goodnight pastures. 

" 'Can a farmer make a living as far West as this?' Mr. Goodnight was 
asked. 

" The cattle king was here even before the Comanches went out. He has 
seen some thirtj' summers come and go in the Panhandle. He deliberated 
a little before answering the question, and then he said : 

" ' Yes, a farmer can make a living out here. But he can't make money. 
He may, by hard work, do a little better some seasons than a living, but 
he can't get rich. The only way a farmer can do well here is to combine 
stock-raising with his farming.' 

" ' Mr. Goodnight, how much pasture land do you allow for each 
animal?' 

" ' Twenty acres.' 

"IVIr. Goodnight has seen land in the Panhandle go from nothing to 
50 cents an acre. He has seen the 50-cent land advance to $3 and |5 an 
acre. He has seen the free grass disappear and the wire fences extend 
like a great web all over the plains. He has had to drive his herds 



THE TEXAS TANHANDLE. 113 

Lundreds of miles to the nearest shipping point. He now lias a railroad 
station in his front door yard. When he gets on the cars at Fort Worth 
he rides through a succession of towns and cities which five years ago had 
no existence, or at best were only trading posts. 

" Twenty bushels of wheat to the acre is what the Panhandle farmers 
claim this land will produce in good seasons.' John W. Carhart, one of the 
leading men of Clarendon, sat upon the vine-covered porch of the Good- 
night place and said : ' The poorest yield of wheat around Clarendon last 
year was twelve bushels to the acre. I remember one field of 160 acres 
which gave 3,000 bushels. The average crop is about twenty bushels. But 
I think the best results will be obtained out here on the edge of the Staked 
Plains by combining some stock-raising with farming. There ia a belt of 
country extending fifty miles east from the eastern verge of the plains. It 
has a southeastern exposure. There are vast numbers of springs. One 
county, Donley, has at least 1,000 of them. This belt presents the finest 
conditions for doing farming that I know of anywhere. I am from the 
dairy region of Wisconsin, and I know just what that development has 
been. I can say that I believe in this spring belt along the Staked Plains, 
which, ten years ago, we were taught to believe was a desert. There are 
finer conditions for dairying than Wisconsin possesses. This short dry 
grass gives a butter that is better flavored than any you ever tasted. 
People from the blue grass and clover dairying country say so. And the 
conditions are such that butter can be made easier here in this clear, dry 
atmosphere. The creeks of the springs region are set with grapes and 
plums. Ten thousand gallons of wine go to waste. In the season when 
grapes are ripe the ground along the creeks is blue. Plums are hauled into 
Clarendon by the wagon load. I don't know of a season since I have been 
here that this natural fruit h^s failed.' 

" The Panhandle is full of surprises, and Mr. Carhart's testimony to the 
existence of this natural dairy country on the edge of the Staked Plains is 
one of them. 

" This transformation of the Panhandle is an agricultural revolution. 
The wonder is that so little has been said about it. When the wheat pro- 
ducing quality of North Dakota lands was discovered the whole world was 
told. Dalrymple's farm was talked about, described in print and painted 
on canvas. The Red River Valley of the North became a place for 
pilgrimages. Well, there is a Red River Valley of the South, and how 
many people know of it, except as a region where the slaves of King Cot- 
ton toil sixteen hours a day with the hoe, the cultivator and the patient 
mule? But that is not the Red River Valley of the South of which the 
Panhandle is part. A geological map of Texas has as many colors as 
Joseph's coat. Just below the western half of the Indian Territory this 
map shows a great patch of the color of brick dust. It is ' the red lands ' 
in scientific lingo. The red lands is a natural wheat country, as much so 
as the Red River Valley of the North, and the dead levels of the eastern 
half of North Dakota. There is more of the red lands in square miles 



114 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

than there is of the North Dakota wheat region. Chemistry explains the 
practical results of wheat-growing in the red lands. The gypsum and the 
other properties which wheat wants are here in extraordinary supply. So 
it appears that the four successive good crops of wheat in the Panhandle 
were not accidents. 

" Wheat-raising is as easy as improved methods can make it in the 
Panhandle. At Vernon, one of the smartest of these brand new cities, 
there were sold last season 547 self-binders. The steam threshing outfits 
are now sweeping through the fields. It takes a force of twenty-five 
men and ten teams to run one of these outfits, while steam power does the 
actual threshing. The wheat-raiser has nothing to do but to open the 
gate when the outfit arrives and to take care of the grain as it comes from 
the spout in a golden stream. It matters not to the threshing boss whether 
the grain is in shock or in stack. Not one in twenty of the Panhandle 
grain-growers puts the sheaves in stack. Perhaps it would be better for 
the grain if it was done. But the threshing outfit includes the men and 
teams to gather in the grain from the shock. The extra charge for thresh- 
ing in that way is only two cents a bushel on wheat and one cent on oats. 
So the Panhandle farmer relieves himself of one of the most tedious fea- 
tures of grain-raising. The threshing boss, like Miles Standish, knows 
every man in his army and divides up the work with system. Eight of the 
ten teams haul the sheaves from the field to the thresher. To one team is 
assigned the duty of keeping water in the boiler, and to another is given 
the work of hauling fuel. A most important part of the outfit is the board- 
ing house on wheels. It is an airy-looking structure. The sides are open 
and the roof is of canvas. A cook stove occupies a corner, and the table 
accommodations seat the whole party. Most of the threshers are farmers' 
lads from the surrounding country. They made quick and merry work of 
what used to be the most anxious event of the year on the grain farm. 
The new way is a great change from the old. There is no more rallying of 
neighbors to exchange threshing work. Housewives do not work a week 
preparing for the threshers and another week cleaning up aftejr them. 
The farmer counts his bushels and pays at the rate of eight cents for wheat 
and four cents for oats. The threshing outfit does the rest. When the 
sun is nearly overhead a shout goes up from some part of the busy scene. 
It is a genuine Texas whoop, high-keyed and piercing. Then another 
answers. From away down in the field where a wagon is loading comes 
a third yell. And after a few moments a whole chorus arises. All of this 
is by way of intimation to the boss that noontime approaches. He is a 
wise boss who heeds such manifestations of popular sentiment. A faint 
echo of the whoop reaches ' the chuck wagon ' on the other side of the 
field handy to the water. The cook and his assistants quicken their move- 
ments between the stove and the table. The boss looks at his watch and 
at the sun. He takes a hasty survey of the field. He, gives no signal. 
Every man sticks to his post and the work goes on. A quarter of an hour 
passes. The warning whoop is heard again. Once more the boss looks at 
his watch. Then he walks over to the engine and the whistle answers the 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 115 

whoop with a toot. Work stops instantef . Steam is turaed off. The belt 
is dropped. Teams are unhitched. There is a race across the field for the 
chuck wagon. Some men are at the table as soon as tliey can climb into 
the wagon. Others move with more deliberation, stopping to feed a team 
or to wash themselves. There is a good deal of human nature in a thresh- 
ing outfit. Meantime the first comers sit about the loaded, smoking table, 
but not so much as a crust of bread is broken. The lines along the board 
fill in. Still nobody starts. Now and then a warning cry of ' Chuck irl' 
is heard, but nobody ' chucks in.' All are seated but one man engaged oii 
a more elaborate toilet than the others have made. ' Chuck in !' ' Chuck 
in !' comes the warning again. ' Go ahead ! ' responds the dude as he raises 
a piece of looking-glass and moves his head to one side and then the other. 
The threshers take him at his word and bread is broken all along the table; 
A good commissary is as important as the Avater in the boiler for a thresh- 
ing outfit. When darkness comes the threshers lie down upon little heaps 
of straw in the stubble, with the Milky Way for a coverlet. Out-of-door 
sleeping is no hardship in the Panhandle country. Thousands do it as a 
matter of comfort and preference. No dew worth mentioning falls. A 
steady dry breeze blows from the South. Such a thing as a cold caught in 
this way is almost unknown. The largest cattle king in the Panhandle 
has an upper room in his house with three sides left open, and there he 
spends the most of his summer nights. All through the Panhandle cots 
and shake-downs may be seen outsidfe of the houses. Camping is a luxury 
in this climate. 

"While his men ate, a threshing boss told his story. 'My name is 
Heagle,' he said, ' and I am from Algiers. One day ten of us came to 
Wichita Falls. We couldn't speak a word of English. We had just $9 
among us. Our intention was to go to Wilbarger county, but the Wichita 
River was up, and while we waited for it to go down we arranged to take 
some land on shares. From that we made enough to buy two sections of 
land at $5 an acre. On that land we made |6,000 worth of crops. We 
have sold our land for $20 an acre and are going into the next county to 
get cheaper land and start again. We are worth $15,000 apiece, and every 
dollar of it except the $9 that was in the party when we came here has 
been made in the Panhandle. Nobody could get me to leave the 
Panhandle.' 

" It is four parts romance and luck with one part work, this grain-grow- 
ing in the Panhandle. With six mules and a gang plow the farmer turns 
a wide strip of the red lands every trip across the field. There were sold 
108 of these big gang plows in a single Panhandle town this season. And 
with these went 260 drills. The Panhandle farmer quadruples the work of 
the old single furrow; he rides his drill and his work is done until the 
ripening grain calls for the binder, which drops the sheaves by half dozens. 
Shocking is the only hand work. Then comes the threshing outfit, leav- 
ing to the farmer nothing more to do but to haul his product to the nearest 
town. With such methods explained the stories told on the Panhandle 
are not so incredible. For instance, it is related that one man and a boy 



116 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

sixteen years old produced 10,000 bushels of grain in a single season. Such 
methods and such a country where the gang plow can. run every month in 
the year, tell the reason why there is no more 'dollar wheat.' It isn't option 
trading that is knocking the bottom out of prices. The Panhandle has 
only just begun. It hasn't struck its gait as a grain-producing region. 
Five years hence, look out for the Panhandle. 

"The people of Wichita Falls preserve three pictures illustrating their 
three eras. In the first picture there are two log houses on a prairie. 
That was the first era. On the second picture is a single street, a row of 
saloons and a group of cowboys. That is the second era. The third pic- 
ture is a bird's-eye-view of a well-built city of 4,000 people, with a big court 
house and a bigger school house, church spires, mills and elevators, $7,000 
residences, a wholesale grocery doing a business of $50,000 a month, and 
other things to match. The three eras are embraced in a decade. In 1887 
Wichita Falls had 400 voters. In 1889 she had 800 voters. In 1892 she 
has 1,600 voters. Five years ago a good month's business for the railroad 
station was |5,000. Now it is from $50,000 to $60,000. The idea of making 
the school house larger than the court house is purely Panhandle. The 
court house hobby may not be of Texas origin, but it finds strong develop- 
ment here. A Texas county seat which hasn't a big court house isn't 
satisfied until it gets one. And the more brick and mortar and cupola 
that can be heaped up the happier is the community. There probably 
isn't another State in the Union which has so many court houses and so 
much money invested in court house architecture in proportion to wealth 
and population . But the Panhandle is new Texas. When Wichita Falls 
got ready to build something to astonish the natives, she put up a $25,000 
school house on a fine square in the very center of the city. She provided 
for nine months of free school. After that she built a substantial court 
house, but it isn't as large as the school house. The Panhandle theory is 
that if the school house is large the community will not need such a fine 
court house. There are parts of Texas where not so very long ago it took 
nerve to advocate free schools for more than three months. It takes nerve 
now in the Panhandle not to advocate free schools for nine months. 

"The Panhandle abounds in ambitious towns. Just beyond Wichita 
Falls is Iowa Park. Less than five years ago two Iowa men came down 
here prospecting. One of them, Mr. Kolp, had been Speaker of the Iowa 
House of Representatives. The other, Mr. Kennedy, had been a member 
of the same body. They found a body of school lands, 17,000 acres, which 
belonged to Tarrant county. This tract they acquired at from $4 to $6 an 
acre. In 1888 they laid out a town. Four years ago there wasn't a house 
on the site, and now there are 1,200 people, with a mill, a couple of eleva- 
tors and brick business blocks. The grain elevator is as much a feature of 
these Panhandle towns as it is of the North Dakota community. Vernon, 
Quanah, Childress, Memphis, Clarendon, Washburn, Amarillo, and even 
the smaller towns between have prepared to handle grain. Many of these 
towns are even younger than loM'a Park. Several are healthy infants of 
two years' and eighteen months' growth. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 117 



"how the newest city op the panhandle got a move on itself, a 

LONE court house— TARRANT COUNTY'S CAMPAIGN OP EDUCATION — 
OLD TEXAS — GREER COUNTY TO THE FRONT. 

" In THE Panhandle of Texas, August 5, 1892. 

"Amarillo is the newest of the Panhandle cities. The waiter at the 
Hotel asks you if you will have your eggs ' standing up.' You pay the 
gentlemanlj' ' barkeep ' fifteen cents for a glass of pop if the imposing 
analysis of the water scares you. The water comes from a depth of over 
200 feet, and is raised by windmills, which on the plains can be guaran- 
teed to run twenty-three hours out of the twenty-four, and about 364 days 
in the year. The water looks and tastes all right. Nobody ever 
experienced any ill results from it. But in an evil hour somebody had it 
analyzed and paraded the analysis in big type as a thing to be proud of. 
When the new-comer reads all about the potassium and the sodium and 
the sulphur he steers forthwith for one of the six saloons in a single block 
of the main street, and invests fifteen cents in a quarter-of-a-cent's worth 
of pop. The saloon business is a great industry in Amarillo and will con- 
tinue to be so long as the saloon trust continues. 

" Young as she is, Amarillo has had two sites. The original town com- 
pany located on a slope two miles west of where the town now stands. 
About 1,200 people established themselves there. As is usual in Texas and 
some other countries, the first thing the new community did when it felt 
its strength was to vote about $25,000 for a court house. This was expected 
to anchor the county -seat and the town for all time to come. The court 
house was built, and a good one it is for the money. 

" But a man who owns a pasturaof 250,000 acres decided that the town 
had been put in the wrong place. It was in ' a draw.' The right location 
was two miles further east on an eligible elevation. To the proposition to 
move the town said 'no.' The pasture man went ahead and laid out a new 
site. He built a hotel that was bigger and cost fifty per cent more than 
the court house. For a few weeks there was an interesting game of tug 
between court house and hotel two miles apart. According to Texas tradi- 
tion the court house should have won. A county seat is located by vote on 
a specified section of land for five years, and there it must stay till the last 
day of the fifth year. The pasture man was from the North. He said he 
was willing to spend $100,000 to put Amarillo where it belonged, and he 
did it. After he had built his big hotel — big for this region — he bought 
the hotel in the original Amarillo, put it on wheels, moved it over to the 
new site, located it across the little park, and called it the annex. The 
pasture man's father-in-law is an Illinois barb-wire millionaire. He came 
down and looked on. He said he didn't know much about town-site wars, 
but he would back the new location. The pasture man dug wells and built 
houses. Every week or two he drove over to old Amarillo, bought a store, 



118 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

put it on wheels and hauled it over to new-Amarillo. There was no shout- 
ing or hurrahing. But month by month the old town melted away and 
the new town grew. To-day the court house is all that marks the original 
site. It stands alone on the prairie. It can't be moved under the law. If 
it could be, the father of the new town would have moved it loiig ago. 
The county officers walk two miles to the court house and back again every 
diay. As they go over in the morning they often see a beautiful mirage — 
houses, trees, lakes and the shadows of a city. When they get to the 
court house the vision fades and there is nothing but bare prairie and the 
holes where the houses stood. 

"The end of the fifth year approaches, and the fate of the lone court 
house is already determined. A square in the center of new Amarillo has 
been set apart for a new and larger county seat anchor. The bid court 
house, brick, mortar and all, will be put on wheels and hauled to the new 
town. When wings shall have been added it will become a college. 

"The pasture man is self-willed, but he is something of a philanthropist. 
He has given the new town a water works system with several miles of 
mains. Amarillo, to begin with, was essentially a stockmen's town, but 
the inevitable man with the hoe has arrived and is disposed to see what he 
can do. The Campbellite minister, who moved to' the Panhandle from 
near Sedalia, Mo., a garden spot if there is one on the footstool, came into 
town one day this week with beards of wlieat all over him. 

" ' What have you been doing, brother? ' a church member asked. 

" ' Threshing my wheat,' replied the minister triumphantly. 

" ' How much did it go?' asked the member. 

" ' Sixty bushels,' said the minister. 

" ' Wha-at?' ejaculated the brother. 

"'I mean sixty bushels on the eight acres,' explained the minister 
with a laugh. ' But I lost at least two bushels an acre by letting it get too 
ripe. I'm not discouraged. I raised this in a bad season on ground which 
had the sod turned only last year. I'm going to sow again this fall. We'll 
raise wheat in Potter county yet. I'm told there are 50,000 bushels of 
wheat that would be marketed right here in Amarillo if we only had a mill.' 

" The Frying Pan ranch comes right up to the edge of Amarillo. In it 
are 250,000 acres. The owner has recently said to his agent: 'I won't 
stand in the way of settlers. They can have the land if they want it. 
When Texas land was selling at $2 an acre and money could be borrowed 
at six and eight per cent, I was a buyer. Now that land is worth |4, I am 
a seller. I have made more money, perhaps, than I am entitled to.' 
During the summer this man has sold over twenty sections of 640 acres 
each, in various counties of the Panhandle for $4 an acre. There came an 
order this week from Denver for a section at $2.50 an acre, to be within 
ten miles of Amarillo. The real estate agents couldn't fill it. Amarillo is 
Spanish. It should be pronounced Am-a-re-o. The inhabitants are 
Americans, and they adhere to the American pronunciation. 

" Up and dow^n the Panhandle the Texans are praying that the title of 
Greer county may be vested in the United States. This may sound strange to 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 119 

those who know how proud Texans are of their State's bigness. Greer 
county is either the southwestern corner of Indian Territory, or else it is 
the elbow of the Panhandle. The United States claims Greer county. So 
does Texas. She has recognized the county organization which the squat- 
ters have set up. In conventions and in other formal ways Greer county 
is conceded representation. But this is pending a decision as to the owner- 
ship. All Texas maps show the State line running around to the north of 
Greer. All United States maps trace the Texas boundary south of Greer. 
The sole question is, Which is Red river? Red river divides Indian Terri- 
tory from Texas. There is no dispute as to where the river runs until the 
forks are reached. Texas insists that one fork is the main river. The 
United States considers the other fork the main river. And it makes just 
the difference of Greer county which is right. Greer lies between the 
forks. Forty-six years ago the independent Republic of Texas was 
annexed to the United States. Nobody at that time had ever heard of 
Greer county. The issue of the forks of Red river had not been raised". 
Some time in the remote past a boundary commission went up Red river. 
The work was done in such ah ill-defined way that it left the opportunity 
for a question a'Bout which fork was treated as the main river. So long as 
nobody wanted Greer county land neither the United States nor Texas 
manifested much interest in settling the fork problem. But after the 
Comanches were corraled on a reservation and the cowmen divided up, 
the Panhandle squatters began to drift in between the forks of the Red. 

" The American creates government wherever he goes. No matter how 
new or isolated the settlement, the next thing after the staking out of the 
claims is the erection of some form of organization which will give sem- 
blance of stability to title and which will insure law and order. Foreign 
anarchists and socialists run up against this strong American trait and 
surprise themselves. The squatters in Greer county did not stop to ask 
' under which king.' They set up an organization and chose a county 
seat. Many of them being from Texas, and Texas being willing, they 
attached themselves for the time being to Texas. 

"This Greer county is an exceedingly well-favored country. It has as 
good soil as the Panhandle wheat belt, and it is better watered than some 
parts of the Panhandle. It has raised this year 2,000,000 bushels of wheat, 
and the three new mills and the three new elevators which form an 
impressive group at Quanah, in the Panhandle, are a tribute to Greer 
county's growing importance. Quanah is named fou the Comanche chief, 
and with Vernon shares the most of the Greer county trade. If the 
United States gets Greer the squatters will accommodate themselves to 
the homestead l«w and get 1(30 acres apiece. If Texas sustains her claim, 
the farmers contributing this crop of 2,000,000 bushels of wheat will be 
entitled to buy on the easy terms of the Texas land law 640 acres apiece. 
That is the reason the Panhandle towns hope the United States 
will win. They want a country of 160-acre farms right beside them to 
show how much better is the policy of small farms. And the most of the 



120 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

Panhandle lawyers say there is no doubt the United States will prove the 
South Fork is the main river and that Greer county is outside of Texas. 
To-day, where the Denver road crosses Red river, just beyond the cor- 
ner of Greer, there is not a drop of water in sight— only an expanse of 
fiery red silt and sand half a mile wide between low banks. But a storm 
on the plains or in the mountains may send seven feet of boiling red mud 
rolling down the channel in a few hours. So it depends on temporary 
circumstances whigh is Red river and which is the fork that doesn't count. 
A settlement of the boundary dispute will come before the end of the year 
it is thought. People who contribute 2,000,000 bushels of w^heat to the 
visible supply must be given a political status. They may count in Okla- 
homa's early claim for statehood. 

"The traveler leaving Fort Worth for the Panhandle country rides 
almost due north for a couple of hours. He sees wheat fields stretching 
away in the distance. Great straw piles loom up like pyramids. The 
steam threshers toot a cheerful salute as the train rushes by. One of 
these threshers turned out 1,611 bushels of wheat on Wednesday, and then 
broke its own record on Saturday with 1,624 bushels. This kind of work 
was made possible by wheat giving twenty-five bushels to the acre. After 
the wheat fields come natural meadows, on which the baled hay is piled 
up as high as a horse and left almost wholly unprotected, with a firm faith 
in favoring weather. The meadows give place to pastures bounded only 
by the horizon. At Calef, fourteen miles north of Fort Worth, there are 
just five houses in sight on perhaps 10,000 acres of land. This is not the 
red lands or the Panhandle country. It is Tarrant county, of which Fort 
Worth is the seat. Tarrant county is where the idea of smaller farms and 
more people is being agitated with a great deal of vigor. Somebody asked 
Mr. Peter Smith, the ex-Mayor of Fort Worth, how much land a certain 
resident of the county had. ' He hasn't much,' Mr. Smith replied; ' only 
about 1,000 acres.' That illustrates the Texas idea of a small farm. Upoa^ 
the public domain the United States considers 160 acres enough for a 
homestead. Texas kept all of her land when she became one of the States 
in 1846, and she gave it away or sold it in great blocks for many years. 
Having grown somewhat economical, Texas now sells only a section of 
agricultural land, or 640 acres, to one person — four times what the General 
Government allows. There is one man in Tarrant county who has 9,000 
acres. He has fenced his farm, but he cultivates only 200 acres. There 
are others who haven't quite so much, but they have enough to make 
Tarrant county look like a grazing country, whereas 'the fact is,' said 
Gen. Clark, of Fort Worth, ' we have as fine farming land as can be found 
anywhere.' 

" The man with the 9,000 acres has declared his willingness to cut this 
farm up and sell it in alternate blocks. The Fort Worth Board of Trade is 
carrying on a campaign of education to make this change from pastures to 
farms general. According to the census figures Tarrant county has added 
only fifty-eight to her agricultural population in ten years. Fort Worth 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 121 

grew 16,413 in the decade, but the county outside of the city practically 
stood still. The people in the city have reached a logical conclusion that 
their future gfowth depends upon a change in the agricultural, or rather 
non-agricultural conditions of the county. Hence the campaign. Like 
most other campaigns of education, this is not altogether encouraging. 
Texans let go of land, even when they are land-poor, with reluctance. A 
man who has 5,000 acres worth $12 now — and that is about the Tarrant 
county estimate of the big pastures — can hardly bring himself to sell 
2,500 acres at $12, though it is made clear to him it will bring in people and 
make the remaining 2,500 worth |24. 

" The Panhandle, in spite of the progress of the man with the hoe, has 
the pasture problem to deal with. There isn't much doubt what the final 
result will be. Until he got the Comanche out the cowman did not rest, 
and with the same aggressive, not to say exterminating spirit, the farmer 
is now camping on the trail of the cowman. The famous red lands stretch 
from the Red river southwest. A tongue reaches the Concho. The main 
body extends on the northwest to Clarendon. But still farther into the 
Panhandle the man with the hoe has pushed his way. He may not find 
natural wheat country all over Northwestern Texas but he has the faith 
of a pioneer that he can raise something. 

" The land which the cowman got at 50c. and $1 is now worth from |6to 
$10 an acre at a distance of five to seven miles from town. Within three 
and four miles of town it is worth $10 and $15 an acre. The State, at the 
instance of the cowman, classed it as grazing land. The man with the 
hoe, after five years' cropping, says that 75 per cent of it is farming land 
and only 25 per cent pasture. 

"'This is land,' said John Howard, of Wichita Falls, ' which, with 
average seasons, will pay for itself, for the labor and for the seed in two 
years. That is something I don't believe can be done in any other State 
in the Union. What I've done others will do. I've given an Iowa man 
a three years' lease on some land of mine. He fences, improves and has 
all he can raise for three years. At the end of that time the fencing is 
mine. If he puts up a house I pay him for that. With the kind of crops 
we have had for five years that man will make enough to pay him for his 
labor and to buy him some land at the end of the three years. This plan 
gives a man from the North a chance to try the country and see if he likes 
it. Texans won't take the land on such terms, but Northern men will. 
The latter don't like to go in debt and are timid about settling here per- 
manently without a trial. By giving the entire use of the land for that 
term of years we interest a tenant in cultivating it well.' 

"It isn't much w'onder that Northern men hesitate to take the Pan- 
handle on faith. A few years ago the banner wheat county of this region 
was known far and wide as ' Wicked Wilbarger.' Civilization goes with 
wheat. Judge Orr and some associates went down to Austin and persuaded 
the State authorities that Wilbarger should be classed as agricultural lands. 



122 THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 

Two or three other counties in tlie Panhandle were equally successful. The 
result was the selling of their lands in single sections, thicker settlement, 
more wheat and less wickedness. It was ' Wicked Wilbarge* ' that showed 
55.28 per cent increase of population by the new census. Adjoining coun- 
ties of the same kind of land were not so fortunate. At Austin the cowmen 
were too quick for the man with the hoe ; the land was classed as grazing 
and sold in blocks of seven sections. There the fight against the past- 
ures is still on. 



"the first round-up for law and order in the panhandle — A HUNDRED 

KILLINGS — TASCOSA's GRAND JURY — MEMORIES OP BOOT HILL — THE 

GREAT X. I. T. — PASTURE DISINTEGRATION. 

" In the Panhandle op Texas, August 7th, 1892. 

"There hasn't been an interment on Boot Hill for more than two years. 
Things have changed since Henry King died. Tascosa, once 'the tough- 
est town of the Panhandle, has a big new court house. If the ghost of 
Billy the Kid could come back it would find but one familiar landmark — 
Boot Hill. The Denver train steams into and out of Tascosa about the 
hour that graveyards yawn. Not a single pistol shot disturbs the slumbers 
of the passengers. 

" Tascosa, Mexican by name and American by adoption, is one of the 
oldest settlements in the Panhandle. For years it wag the outfitting post 
of a great cow country. Ranchers came to Tascosa a hundred miles and 
more to get supplies. And they didn't leave without having had what they 
called ' a wide time.' Tascosa was the meeting point where troubles were 
settled long before a stone court house with a cupola was thought of. The 
feuds of the ranches, the disputes between cowboys and gamblers, the 
rivalries over favors of frail creatures, all came to an issue at Tascosa. And 
when the arbitrament of navy sixes had been pronounced there was an 
addition to be made to the population of Boot Hill. The pessimists say that 
epitaphs lie. The records on the headboards of Boot Hill faithfully record 
history. Boot Hill is a sightly knoll, a little way out of Tascosa. Only 
those who died with their boots on were entitled to a place on the hill. 
Life was too practical in the Panhandle to encourage the erection of elab- 
orate monuments. A board was deemed sufficiently permanent. On it 
was inscribed enough to remind the friends and to warn the enemies of 
the deceased. Many of the boards have fallen down or have disappeared. 
Perhaps they lasted long enough to serve their double purpose. 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 123 

" Perhaps it was grand juries and courts — more likely it was wheat- 
raising and the man with the hoe — which wrought the revolution in the 
value of human life. But to-day no man need carry a gun on his hip in 
the Panhandle. There is a detachment of rangers up here. The officer in 
command is Lieutenant Britton. 

" 'We haven't much to do now,' the Lieutenant said, as he leaned on 
the gate of the corral, 'beyond helping the sheriff to overtake fugitives 
from justice. We make scouts cover the country to see what is going on, 
and occasionally we are called on to run down a murderer. But the work is 
nothing like what it was a few years ago. There is no train robbing. We 
haven't had a case of shooting out the lights in a long time. Now and 
then a cowboy comes to town and gets full. Perhaps he will begin to make 
a noise. We go to him and take him by the arm and tell him it won't do. 
He usually quiets down, and that is all there is of it.' 

" There is still some big ranching in the Panhandle. From the north- 
ern boundary of the State one fence extends 210 miles due south. This 
isn't as great as the distance from St. Louis to Chicago, but it is a good 
part of it. This single fence belongs to one company. It bounds the east 
line of the possessions of the X. I. T. There is another fence on the west 
side, and there are cross fences dividing this, the largest fenced pasture in 
the world, into divisions. On each division is a big house, a superinten- 
dent and a force of men. It requires 125 men to run this ranch. The 
smallest of the pasture divisions contains 470,000 acres. Last year 50,000 
calves were branded on this ranch. Yet the chief owner in this magnifi- 
cent property ' wishes he had never seen a cow brute.' His name is Far- 
well, and he ia a merchant prince in Chicago. Years ago, when Texas had 
more land than anything else, she proclaimed through the newspapers 
that she would give so many million acres of land for a State Capitol so 
big. It was a novel proposition. Takers were found in the Farwells, of 
Chicago; Abner Taylor, the present Congressman, and his father-in-law, 
Mr. Babcock, an Illinois banker. These gentlemen built a Capitol of the 
length, breadth and height specified in the bond, and they got their pay 
in this Panhandle pasture, 210 miles long. Texas lands went up and 
down and up again while the Capitol was building. The then unfenced 
and unstocked pasture was wortli" at one time twice what the Capitol cost. 
It was worth at another time, when the bottom fell out of the cattle busi- 
ness, less than the Capitol cost. It would sell now for enough to build half 
a dozen capitols. 

"The ' nester ' has not yet tackled the Capitol syndicate land, but 
thei-e is hardly a Texas pasture east of the 210-mile fence in which farmers 
have not found foothold. Cowmen can acquii-e great blocks of land, but 
they often have to inclose with their purchases the school sections, for the 
use of which they pay rental. The nester comes along and begins farming 
on one of the school sections. Whenever the school section is wanted for 
agricultural purposes the cowman's lease expires. For the nester's accom- 
modation the pasture owner must put in gates and allow roadways. Thia 



124 THE TEXAS I'ANHAISDLE. 

is one way in wliich tlie disintegration of the large pastures begins. Texas 
has had'a land policy full of inconsistencies. Some of these results may 
be seen in a ride through the Panhandle. For example, between Vernon 
and Wichita Falls the wheat fields extend on either side of the Denver 
road as far as the vision reaches. East of Wichita Falls the right of way 
is bounded by wire fences, and beyond is the virgin prairie, with here and 
there a fresh breaking or a new house. The difference is that in one case 
the farmer got in his work at Austin, and in the other the cowman had the 
ear of the administration. In one case the county was classed as agricul- 
tural ; in the other, although the land was of precisely the same' character, 
the decision was 'grazing.' One man could buy a single section only of 
agricultural land. He could obtain seven sections of grazing. And so one 
county was turned into wheat fields and another into pastures. East of 
Wichita Falls the railroad runs through a pasture of 17,000 acres good for 
twenty-four bushels of wheat in the average season. This pasture might 
for all of the purposes of town growth and railroad traffic, have been a 
desert. But it has passed into the hands of a Nebraska man and an Iowa 
man, and they are turning it into farms at $8 and $10 an acre. North of 
Wichita Falls and Iowa Park lies a barrier in the form of a pasture of 25,000 
acres. This pasture comes down to within three miles of the Falls. It 
belongs to Dan Waggoner and Burke Burnett, the cattle kings. Burnett's 
home is in Fort Wor-th. Waggoner has a fine stone mansion prettily 
located on an elevation above the railroad at Decatur. The people of 
Wichita Falls and Iowa Park are grumbling mightily. 'Of what use is it,' 
they say, 'to ship four carloads of melons a day or to grind nearly 1,000 
barrels of flour every twenty-four hours, if progress is to be barred by such 
a barrier?' Beyond the pasture lies that part of the Indian Territory 
known as the Fort Sill countiy, the home of the Comanches. Envious 
eyes are upon the Waggoner pasture and upon the Fort Sill country. 'Take 
the farmers out of this region,' say the Iowa Park people, 'and property 
wouldn't be worth ten cents on the dollar; double the number of farmers 
and property will be worth 150 cents on the dollar of the present valuation. 
The way to boom the town is to say nothing about it but to settle the 
farms.' 

"There is room in the Waggoner ^sture for 500 farmers. People 
would pay $10 to $15 an acre for the land if they could get it. Before the 
country, in other directions from Wichita Falls, was developed, the Wag- 
goner pasture wasn't worth over $3 or $4 an acre. The settlement of the 
Waggoner pasture would double the population of Iowa Park in two 
years. 

" Thus the issue of the anti-pasture grows in the Panhandle. The Wag- 
goner pasture is mentioned only as an illustration. All through the Panhan- 
dle this issue exists. It is greater than any other question. County 
elections turn upon it. 

" Until three years ago the cowmen controlled the Panhandle politics. 
They elected County Commissioners, dictated assessment and taxation. 



THE TP:XAS panhandle. 123 

They let the farmers' improvements bear the burden, while the big past- 
ures which were increased in value by such improvements beside them 
were taxed only as wild land. The opening of roads was retarded. The 
contest was and is a lively one. Self-interest of the cowmen is arrayed 
against self-interest of the farmers. Neither is blameworthy, A few 
years ago twenty men named the officers and shaped the policies of four 
of these wheat-growing counties. But big pastures don't go with big 
towns. And this is the era of farm-making and town-building in the Pan- 
handle. 

"Who would have dreamed that the cowman and Comanche would 
ever lie down together? ■ 

" The cowman dispossessed the Comanche. He drove him from 
the Panhandle into a reservation. And now the Comanche is in 
the pay of the cowman to help stay the progress of the farmer. The 
Fort Sill country is so near that the Comanches trot their ponies down to 
Wichita Falls in a day. It is the cream of the Indian Territory in the 
opinion of the Panhandle farmer. But while other reservations in the 
Territory are being broken up and thrown open to white settlement, the 
Fort Sill country remains closed. The big man among the Comanches is 
Quanah Porter. Quanah has a farm and plenty of horses. He has taken 
sides with the cowman, his old enemy. When it is necessary to send a 
squad of Comanche chiefs to Washington to tell the Great Father the 
Comanches want to lease their lands to Dan Waggoner and the other cattle 
kings for 6 cents a year per acre, Quanah is the shrewd Comanche who 
rounds up the squad and has charge of them. Quanah is a politician. He 
is not much of a chief by inheritance or by war-path record. But he is a 
very smart Indian politician. 

"When Mackenzie killed 3,600 Indian ponies down at the 
mouth of the Tule and hustled the Comanches back on their reserva- 
tion after their last breakaway, he picked out Quanah and put him 
at the head of the whole outfit. By virtue of this commission from the 
great 'long gun,' and by the exercise of a good deal of practical politics, 
Quanah has remained boss of the Comanches to this day. Something 
happened not long ago which nearly ended Quanah's usefulness with his 
people. The boss gathered together a lot of big men of the tribe and took 
them down to Fort Worth on a junket. The cowmen wanted a job put 
through, it matters little what. The Comanches were corraled in the best 
hotel in the fort. The next morning one of them was dead. He had 
blown out the gas. The chief's body was taken back to the Fort Sill 
country. There was great lamentation. Many ponies were killed for use 
in the happj' hunting grounds. Braves gashed their breasts and 
squaws howled. Suspicion of foul play fell upon Quanah, a*d in the 
excitement of grief there was strong sentiment in favor of sending Quanah 
to join the departed. But his white friends stood by the boss. Time 
effaced the memory of that affliction. To-day Quanah is more a boss than 



126 



THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 



ever, and he stands in with the cowmen to their great satisfaction and his 
own material benefit. 

" The Panhandle farmers say there is room for fifty thousand people, 
without crowding, in the Fort Sill country. They say that if the 
title to Greer is vested in the United States, that new country bordering 
tlie Comanches' reservation on the west will have 100,000 people in ninety 
daj's. And they also say that the United States land policy of 160 acres, 
enough for a homestead, would put 10,000,000 in Texas by the time the 
population of the whole country reaches 100,^000,000. Perhaps they are right. 
Oklahoma was settled in a dsty. The Cheyenne aftd Arapahoe lands were 
filed on in another day. South of them lie the Fort Sill country, Greer 
county and the Panhandle. Southwestward the star of empire takes its 
way." 




THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. 127 
POPULATION. 

The population of the thirty-three cities^anct towns in Texas, having 
3,000 or more inhabitants, in the order of their rank, according to the 
United States census of 1890, is as follows : 

^-POPULATION.— N , INCREASE. s 

CITIES AND TOWNS. COUNTIES. 1890. 1880. No. PERCENT. 

Dallas Dallas 38,067 10,358 27,709 267.51 

San Antonio Bexar 37,673 20,550 17,123 83.32 

Galveston Galveston 29,084 22,248 6,836 30.73 

Houston..... Harris 27,557 16,513 11,044 66.88 

Fort Worth Tarrant 23,076 6,663 16,413 246.33 

Austin Travis 14,575 11,013 3,562 32.34 

Waco McLennan 14,445 7,295 7,150 98.01 

Laredo Webt) 11,319 3,521 7,798 221.47 

Denison Grayson 10,958 3,975 6,983 175.67 

El Paso El Paso 10,338 736 9,602 1304.62 

Paris Lamar 8,254 3,980 4,274 107.39 

Sherman Grayson 7,335 6,093 1,242 20.38 

Marshall Harrison 7,207 5,624 1,583 - 28.15 

Tyler Smith 6,908 2,423 4,485 185.10 

Gainesville Cooke 6,594 2,667 3,927 147.24 

Corsicana Navarro 6,285 3,373 2,912 86.33 

Brownsville Cameron 6,134 4,938 1,196 24.22 

Palestine Anderson 5,838 2,997 2,841 94.79 

Brenham Washington 5,209 4,101 1,108 27.02 

Corpus Christi Nueces 4,387 3,257 1,130 34.69 

Greenville Hunt 4,330 4,330 

Temple ,.., Bell 4,047 4,047 

Weatherford Parker 3,369 2,046 1,323 64.66 

Bonham Fannin 3,361 1,880 1,481 78.78 

Beaumont J%fferson 3,296 3,296 

Cleburne Johnson 3,278 1,855 1,423 76.71 

Abilene Taylor 3,194 3,194 

Orange Orange 3,173 3,173 

Waxahachie Ellis 3,076 1,354 1,722 127.18 

Jefferson Marion 3,072 ^,260 188 5.77 

Victoria Victoria 3,046 3,046 

Sulphur Springs Hopkins 3,038 1,854 1,184 63.86 

Belton Bell 3,000 1,797 1,203 66.94 



THE — 





Carrying the United States Oyerland Mail for 

China and Japan 

PASSING THROUGH THE MOST FERTILE PORTIONS OP 

KANSAS.. l 

THE MOST PRODUCTIVE LANDS IN 

NEBRASKA^ 

THE FAMOUS PANHANDLE OF 

"TEXAS, ' 

THROUGH THE ROMANTIC AND PICTURESQUE SCENERY OP 

OOL_ORADO, 

AND THE FAMOUS GRAZING LANDS OP I 

NA/VOMING- 

IT IS THE MOST DIRECT ROUTE TO THE VINE-CLAD HILLS AND NUMEROUS 
HEALTH AND PLEASURE RESORTS OP 

UTAH. 

JT IS THE ONLY LINE PASSING THROUGH THE MILLIONS OP ACRES OP GRAZIN 
FARMING, FRUIT RAISING AND MINING LANDS OP 

IDAHO. 

O I 

IT IS THE DIRECT ROUTE TO THE AGRICULTURAL, GRAZING, MINING AND 
TIMBER LANDS OF THE STATES OP 

OREGON 

AND 

\A/ASHINGi~rON_ 

IT IS ALSO THE "POPULAR ROUTE" to the FAMOUS YET 
PRACTICALLY UNKNOAVN COUNTRY OP 

ALASKA 

VIA 

RORTl—AND. 

S. H. H. CLARK, E. DICKINSON, E. L. LOMAX, 

President, Gen'l Manager, Gen'l Passenger & Ticket Agt,, 




Goai^ty Map 

OF THE 

PANHANDLE 
TEXAS 

A-nd the Line of the 

GULF DIVISION «--- 
UNION PACIFIC SYSTEM. 

Gen' I Freight and f 



■ hagunas^,. 

rrn^.: 

Its tJaca 



Iyoakum! terry 



K. DICKINSON, General i 
E. L. LOMAX, Oen'I 

OllAHA, 



ineral Manager, j | \ -•„„, V^-'} V] ^'-^ I , i «, r S UHACKELFORDSfEPHENSn i.,.l,. j, S ^i-"''^— Arj^:<S/V\V 

.Pa^,,.a„^.T,e.etA.en., : ^ , r^ ES^ofeoNJ °°"^| ^."(""V j FISHER j^ ^^ S^^^^_^^ yTJ-^-'^V^Xa P,g^>^. \.^«f 7/\\ Jl 



WILL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT. 



Any Ticket Agent in the United States or Canada can sell Tickets, check Baggage, and arrange 

for Pullman Palace Sleeping Car berths, via the Union Pacific Railway. 

Do not complete your arrangements for a Western trip until you have 

applied to the undersigned. Additional information, Maps, 

Time Tables, etc., will be cheerfully furnished. 



•BOSTON, MA.SS.— 'i^lO Washington St.— W. S. 
CoNDELL, New England Freight and Pas- 
senger Agent. 
E. M. Newbegin, Traveling Freight and 
Passenger Agent. 
BUTTE, MONT. — Cor. Main and Broadway.— 

E. V. Maze. General Agent. 
CMATTAXOOGA, TEXX.-2] E. Eighth St.- 

F. L. Lynde. Traveling Passenger Agent. 
CHEYENNE, WYO.— C. W. Sweet, Freight and 

Ticket Agent. 
CHICAGO, ILL.— 191 South Clark Street.— 
W. T. Holly, City Passenger and Ticket Agt. 
T. W. Young, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
CINCINNATI, OHIO.— Room 35, Carew Bld^— 
J. D. Welsh, General Agent Freight and 
Passenger Departments. 
T. C. Hirst, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
A. G. Shearman, Traveling Freight and Pas- 
senger Agent. 
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.— 14 Pike's Peak 

Ave.— W. G. Rice, City Ticket Agent. 
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA.— U. P. Transfer— 
A. J. Manderson, Gen'l Agt. 
R. W. Chamberlain, Passenger Agent. 
J. W. Maynard, Ticket Agent. 
J. C. Mitchell, City Ticket Agent, 421 B'way. 
DENVER, COLO.— 1703 Larimer St.— Geo. Ady, 
General Agent. 
C. H. Titus, Traveling Passenger Agent. 

E. G. P.A.TTERSON. City Ticket Agent. 

F. G. Erb, City Passenger Agent. 

ScoTT Bryan, Ticket Agent, Union Depot. 
DES MOINES, IOWA.— 218 Fourth St.— E. M. 

Ford, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
DETROIT, MICH.— In5 Jefferson Ave.— D. W. 

Johnston, Traveling Passenger Agent. 

FT. WORTH, TEX.— D. B. Keeler, General 

Freight* Pass. Agent, Ft. Worth & D. C. Ry. 

A. J. Ratcliffe, Traveling Passenger Agent. 

N. S. Davis. Citv Passenger and Ticket 

Agent, 401 Main Street. 

HELENA, MONT.— 28 North Main St.— H. O. 

Wilson, Freight and Passenger Agent. 
INDIANAPOLIS, IND.— Room 6, Jackson Place. 

L. C. Morris, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
KANSAS CITY, MO — 1038 Union Ave.— J. B. 
Frawley, General Agent Passenger Dept. 
J. B. Reese, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
H. K. Proi'dfit. Citv Pa.ssenger Agent. 
T. A. Shaw, Ticket Agent. 
C. A. Whittieu, City Tkt. Agt., 1000 Main St 
A.W. Millspaugh. Ticket Ag't, Union Depot. 
LONDON, ENGLAND — Thos. Cook & Sons, Eu- 
ropean Passenger Agents, Ludgnte Circus 
LOS ANGELES, CAL.-229 South Spring St.— 

G. F. Herr, Passenger Agent. 

5fEW ORLEANS, LA.— 158 Common Street.— 

J. P. DouGL.\ss, Jr., General Agent. 
NEW WHATCOM, WASH.— W. E. O'Connor, 

Ticket Agent. 
NEW YORK CITY.— 2S7 Broadway.— R. Ten- 

BROECK. General Eastern Agent. 
• S. .\. Hutchison, Traveling Passenger Agent. 

J. D. Tenbroeck, Traveling Pa':senger.\gent. 

A. LuNDQUisT, Traveling Pas.senger Agent. 

J. F. Wiley, City Passenger Agent. 



OAKLAND, CAL.— 12th Street and Broadway— 

Geo. B. Seaman, Passenger Agent. 
OGDEN, UTAH.— Union Depot.— C. A. Henry 

Ticket Agent. ' 

OLYMPIA, WASH.— Percival's Wharf.— J. C- 
Perciv.\l, Ticket Agent. 

OMAHA, NEB,— 9th and Farnam Sts.— Frank 

N. Prophet, Traveling Passenger Agent. 

Harry P. Deuel, City Ticket Agent, 1302 

Farnam Street. 
Geo. J. Buckingham, City Passenger Agent 
J. K. Chambers, Ticket Agent, Union Depot] 
PITTSBURGH, PA.— Rooms 307 and 308, Fer- 
guson Block.— S. C. MiLBOURNE, Traveling 
Passenger Agent. 

PORTLAND, ORE.— 254 Washington St.— W. H. 
Hurlburt, Assistant General Pass'r Agent. 
Geo. H. Hill, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
V. A. Schilling, City Ticket Agent. 
A. J. Goodrich, Citv Passenger Agent. 

E. S. Van Kuean, ticket Agent, Grand Cen- 
tral Station. 

PORT TOWNSEND, WASH. -Union Wharf.— 

H. L. TIBBAL.S, Ticket Agent. 
PUEBLO, COLO.— Cor. Union Ave. and First 

St.-^A. S. Cuthbertson, General Agent. 
ST. JOSEPH, MO.— Chamber of Commerce.— 
S. M. Adsit, General Freight and Passenger 
Age»t, St. J. & G. I. R. R. 

F. P. Wade. City Ticket Agent, Corner 3d 
and Francis Sts. 

Jo. Hansen, Ticket Agent, Union Depot. 
ST. LOUIS, MO.— 213 N. 4th St.-J. F. Aglar, 
Gen'l Agent Freightand Pass. Departments. 
N. Haight, Traveling Pa.ssenger Agent. 
E. R. Tuttle, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
E. A.Williams, City Freight and Passenger 
Agent. 
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.— 201 Main St.— D. E. 
BuRLEY, General Agent. 
D. S. T.A.GGART, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
W. J. RiDD, Traveling Passenger Agent. 
L. J. Keyes, City Ticket Agent. 
W. S. Evans, City Passenger Agent. 
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.— 1 Montgomery St.— 
D. W. Hitchcock, Gen'l Ae't Passeng'f Dept. 
C. E. Brown, Traveling Passenger Agen{. 
W. R. Vice, Pacific Coast Passenger Agent. 
J. F. FuGAZi, Emigr't Agt.. 5 Montgomery Av. 
SEATTLE, WASH.— 705 Second St.— A. C. Mae- 
tin, General Agent. 
SIOUX CITY, IOWA.— 503 Fourth St.— D. M. 
Collins, General Agent. 
Geo. E. .\bbott, Trav. Passenger Agent. 
H. M. Birdsall. City Ticket Agent. 
Geo. LedVard, City Passenger Agent. 
Geo. F. Wheelock, ticket .\g't, Union Depot. 
SPOKANE, WASH.— Cor. Riverside and Wash- 
ington.— Perry Griffin, Passenger and 
Ticket Agent. 
TACOMA,WASH.— 903 Pacific Ave.— E.E.Eli is, 

General Agent. 
TRINIDAD, COLO.— J. F. Lintiiurst, Ticket 

Agent. 
VICTORIA, B. C. — 100 Government St.— R. 
Hall, Ticket Agent. 



ii 




"THE OVERLAND ROUTE " ,m^ 

IS THE 



•iiii 



i 



UNION PACIFIC, 

i 

MOST DIRECT LINE 

FROM 

THE MISSOURI RIVER 

TO 

All Principal Points West 

And on Account ol the Varieil Character of tlie Conntry it Traverses, l|| 

Offers to those who contemplate going "West a more greatly diversiflw'--* 
territory to select from than does any other 

TRANS-CONTINENTAL LINE. 

Passing as it does through NI^BRASKA, KANSAS, T:GXAS, JV^ W 
MBXICO, COI^ORADO, WYOMING, UTAH, IDAHO, MON- 
TANA, 0R:GG0N and WASHINGTON, every business interest is to 
be found along its line. .' .' .* .* .* 

T'nv i-ha PormoT' thousands of acres of rich agricultural land are 

X or me i armer, y^^ ^^^^ ^^^ settlement. 

For the Stpck-Raiser. 'ZT^lZlr^''^''' '^"'"' '"""' 

Pat> tVio TVr-inaT ^^^ great mountains of the West await but the open- 
XOI llltj IVlXiltj I.; ing to become the source of large fortunes, and 

For thfi "Rn^inpqq Man *^^ growing cities and towns of the West 
LUi mo .DUblUCbb IVldiU, ^^,g ^^-^y offering unequaled opportuni- 
ties for investment of capital and location of industries which are unsur- 
passed by older sections of the United States. 



For pamphlets descriptive of the above named States or Territories, or 
any information relative to the Union Pacific, call on or address any agent 
of this Company, whose name is given in the list on the inside cover, or 

S. H. H. CLARK, E. DICKINSON, E. L. LOMAX, 

President. General Manager. Qen'I Passenger & Ticket Agent, 



